[meteorite-list] Stardust Wraps Up Star Dust Collection

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:53:33 2004
Message-ID: <200212101645.IAA10816_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021209-074319-1130r

Probe wraps up star dust collection
Irene Brown,
UPI Science News
December 9, 2002

PASADENA, Calif., Dec. 9 (UPI) -- A NASA science probe Monday finished its
work collecting interstellar dust grains for return to Earth on the heels of
a successful dress rehearsal for its comet rendezvous mission.

The minuscule particles -- each no bigger than a micron, or a millionth of a
meter -- have been captured by the Stardust spacecraft, which is just more
than a year from its primary mission to study and collect samples from a
comet.

"More and more things are behind us now, so we're feeling pretty good about
the mission," Stardust principal scientist Donald Brownlee, with the
University of Washington in Seattle, said in an interview with United Press
International.

Ground control teams at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory watched over the
spacecraft as it delicately retracted its tennis racket-like wand, which is
filled with a substance called aerogel that traps and preserves the
fast-moving celestial specks of dust.

One side of the wand contains interstellar dust grains taken during two
periods since the probe's launch in 1999. The other side is being reserved
for samples from Comet Wild-2 (pronounced "vilt-2"). The comet encounter is
planned for January 2004.

The spacecraft will be in an orientation one more time to collect more dust
grains before the comet encounter, but Brownlee said the team decided to pass
up the third collection period and focus instead on preparing for the
one-shot comet flyby.

If all goes as planned, Stardust will return to Earth in 2006 and jettison a
capsule containing its precious samples that will parachute to Earth. Among
the studies scientists plan is a comparison between the interstellar dust --
which is blown into our solar system by other stars in the galaxy -- and the
comet particles, which are thought to be relics from the original dust cloud
from which our solar system was formed.

"From the dust grains, we're hoping that we can learn something about how
elements heavier than hydrogen and helium are formed by stars," said
Brownlee. "We know that different stars do that in different ways, but we
don't know how."

Stardust last month flew by an asteroid to test its equipment and operating
procedures for the comet rendezvous.

"That was just a little teaser of what's going to come," said Brownlee.

NASA also said it is delaying launch of its dust-peering infrared space
telescope from January to April 2003. A launch pad accident at Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station in late October was the primary trigger for the delay, said
Jet Propulsion Laboratory spokeswoman Jane Platt.

However, a problem with a valve on the telescope's steering system also is
taking some time to resolve. NASA is retargeting launch of the long-delayed
Space Infrared Telescope Facility to no earlier than April 15. If the
observatory cannot be launched by mid-May, however, it will face another
lengthy delay as NASA will shift its focus to launching two Mars probes
during the critical time that Earth and Mars are favorably aligned.
Received on Tue 10 Dec 2002 11:45:30 AM PST