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Stardust




Launch: Feb. 7, 1999
Comet flyby: Jan. 2, 2004
Landing: Jan. 15, 2006
Capsule release: 12:57 a.m. EST (0557 GMT)
Atmospheric entry: 4:57 a.m. EST (0957 GMT)
Main chute deploy: 5:05 a.m. EST (1005 GMT)
Touchdown: 5:12 a.m. EST (1012 GMT)
Site: Utah Test and Training Range

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Stardust return preview
NASA's Stardust spacecraft encountered Comet Wild 2 two years ago, gathering samples of cometary dust for return to Earth. In this Dec. 21 news conference, mission officials and scientists detail the probe's homecoming and planned landing in Utah scheduled for January 15, 2006.

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NASA through the decades
This film looks at the highlights in NASA's history from its creation in the 1950s, through the glory days of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, birth of the space shuttle and the loss of Challenger, launch of Hubble and much more.

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Cosmic paydirt with Stardust
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON NEWS RELEASE
Posted: January 18, 2006

Scientists at the Johnson Space Center in Houston were excited and awed Tuesday by what they saw when the sample-return canister from the Stardust spacecraft was opened.

"It exceeds all expectations," said Donald Brownlee, a University of Washington astronomy professor who is principal investigator, or lead scientist, for Stardust. "It's a huge success. We can see lots of impacts. There are big ones, there are small ones."

Stardust returned to Earth in a spectacular re-entry early Sunday after a 7-year mission to collect particles from comet Wild 2 and samples of interstellar dust streaming into our solar system from other parts of the galaxy. The comet dates from the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion years ago.

Brownlee calculated there might be more than a million microscopic specks of dust embedded in Stardust's aerogel collector. Aerogel, a remarkable material that is as much as 99.9 percent empty space, greatly reduced the stress of impact on the particles, he said. The carrot-shaped tracks of much larger particles are visible in the aerogel from several feet away, Brownlee said, and in some of the tracks the black comet dust is visible at the end of the track. One track, he said, "is almost large enough to put your little finger into it."

Scientists will search the aerogel grid for dust samples, and more than 65,000 people have signed up to help in a project called Stardust@home, in which their home computers will examine images of tiny sections of the aerogel grid looking for dust particles.

The Johnson Space Center will be the curator of the Stardust samples, and as many as 150 scientists worldwide are waiting to study them.

"Stardust is a phenomenal success," Brownlee said.

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Additional coverage for subscribers:
VIDEO: POST-LANDING NEWS CONFERENCE DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
AUDIO: LISTEN TO THE POST-LANDING BRIEFING FOR iPOD
VIDEO: LANDING AS SEEN LIVE VIA INFRARED TRACKING CAMERAS PLAY
VIDEO: SAMPLE CAPSULE RELEASED FROM MOTHERSHIP PLAY

VIDEO: THURSDAY'S PRE-LANDING BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
VIDEO: RETURN PREVIEW NEWS BRIEFING DIAL-UP | BROADBAND
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