NASA scientists are set to launch a rocket designed to collide with a comet to get a better idea of the elements inside the firey ball. Most scientists believe that comets contain the same 'ingrediants' that were present in the founding of the universe and the scientists hope to learn more about them by the planned collision.

The copper-fortified rocket, named Deep Impact, is set for launch today from Cape Canveral, Florida. The timing of the launch must be exact if scientists hope to arrange for Deep Impact to hit comet Tempel 1.

Once the rocket reaches the comet, NASA officials are unsure what the rocket will face once it meets it. Is the outer skin of the comet hard and solid or soft and easily broken through? This is one of the basic things scientists hope to discover on this mission.

The rocket must crash into the sunlit side of the comet in order for scientists to be able to see any pictures it takes during its mission. The collision is scheduled for July 4th.

'We hope we'll make a crater ... perhaps 300 feet in diameter, 100 feet deep, that we'll get through that crust and reveal the interior of the comet,' said plantetary geologist Jay Melosh of the University of Arizona. 'But we don't know what comets are made of. We don't know how strong they are.'

Deep Impact is equipped with with a powerful telescope designed to take photographs of the impact between the ship and the comet at a distance of roughly 300 miles away.

There is one major difference between this mission and most explorations of space. This time, NASA wants its vehicle to crash.