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STARDUST Microchip
STARDUST Microchip
More than 136,000 names collected from around the world has been
inscribed onto a small microchip that will be carried on the STARDUST
spacecraft. The chip will journey on the spacecraft to Comet Wild-2, and
then will be returned back to Earth inside the sample return capsule.
The microchip measures only 1 cm square, about the size of a fingernail, and
was created in the Micro-Electronics Laboratory at JPL using a technology
called electron beam lithography. In addition to the 136,000 names,
photographs of the STARDUST team members and educational partners were also
added onto the microchip, as well as letters written by Ken Atkins, STARDUST
Project Manager, Don Brownlee, STARDUST Principal Investigator, Paul Wild,
the discover of Comet Wild-2, and Fred Whipple, the originator of the "dirty
snowball" theory for comets.
All 136,000 names are now listed on the STARDUST home page along with a photo
of the microchip:
http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/microchip/names.html
Special thanks goes to The Planetary Society for collecting the names for
the STARDUST project.
Ron Baalke
STARDUST Outreach