From the Makers of Apollo 11, comes...

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is no longer the awe-inspiring government agency that pours absurd amounts of money into relatively pointless exercises [AHEM moon landings]. Oh, of course not! The new, svelte NASA just got done with a thrifty 333 million dollar project. MSMers, including the truly dangerous PBS, described the mission as an attempt to

...smash a probe into a speeding comet the size of Washington, D.C., with a force equal to four and a half tons of TNT exploding.

Upon some more careful inspection (or some gentle mental prodding), it becomes clear that you CAN'T smash something INTO A COMET. Comets smash into YOU. Indeed, the Casanovas over at space.com make it clear that the photo you see above is "comet Tempel 1 six minutes before it ran over NASA's Deep Impact probe at 10:52 p.m. Pacific time, July 3."

Soooo...the mission consisted, basically, of destroying a really expensive digital camera. No wonder JPL's mission co-investigator exclaimed, "I can't believe they're paying us to have this much fun!"

Of course, it's not fun and games for everyone. A Russian astrologer is suing NASA for $300m in "moral sufferings" that resulted from upsetting "the natural balance of forces in the universe" and "[deforming] her natural horoscope."

Tom Cruise could not be reached for comment.

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P.S. If you're still worrying about the cost, just remember that Deep Impact covered only about 2.5% of NASA's 2005 budget, which, of course, is twice the EPA's budget.