[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

STARDUST Update - May 22, 1998

                     STARDUST Status Report
                         May 22, 1998
                          Ken Atkins
                    STARDUST Project Manager

Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO) activities:
Activities this past week included the successful first run of the 
"Aliveness Test."  This test confirms all subsystem interfaces are 
operational and "healthy."  Also, one spacecraft side panel (+Y) was  
folded up to allow installation of the Cometary & Interstellar Dust 
Analyzer (CIDA) sensor. The gold "saxaphone-like" sensor, delivered this 
week by the German CIDA team, is clearly visible in the video picture 
from Lockheed Martin. Installation and initial  testing went very well. 
Congratulations to the CIDA team!  The silver horn in the picture is
the medium gain antenna...a key element of the telecommunications
subsystem.

Outreach: Public interest in the film "Deep Impact" has continued to
improve public awareness of STARDUST by the film-folk's help in
facilitating the new round of name collections for the second 
microchip to be flown in the Sample Return Capsule (SRC). As of May 20,
146,274 names had been collected.  This exceeds the total number of
names collected for the first microchip. As many, many more interested
fans join us....a hearty, "Welcome Aboard."

In another familiar setting, the STARDUST Project provided Aerogel for
an interesting exhibit in Disneyland's premier of the New Tomorrowland.
The Official Grand Opening is this Memorial weekend. 

On Thursday, there were 109,228 hits to the home page, a new record
for STARDUST!

Thanks for looking in!  We encourage you to browse through the site. 
You can listen to STARDUST-related music by hitting the jukebox in the
STARDUST Cafe (http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/info/sd-cafe.html), or you can 
check out some great coloring work by kids if you click the words 
"Color me STARDUST" on the "What's New?" page.  You can also find out where 
comet Wild-2 is right now (http://stardust.jpl.nasa/gov/comets/wildnow.html).
And for newcomers, certainly don't forget the STARDUST name collection form
(http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/microchip/signup.html). And, as you
browse, look for the great links to our partner's sites such as Jason,
Challenger Centers, and OmniPlex.

For more information on the STARDUST mission - the first ever comet
sample return mission - please visit the STARDUST home page:

http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/