[meteorite-list] Volunteers Sought To Do Web Analysis on Stardust Samples From Home

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Jan 10 16:35:17 2006
Message-ID: <200601101715.k0AHFbo12062_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/nation/13592454.htm

Volunteers sought to do Web analysis on space dust from home
Herald Today
Glennda Chui
January 10, 2006

With millions of dust particles headed our way from space, scientists
could use a hand.

Make that 60,000 hands, give or take a few.

Researchers are asking for volunteers to observe the Stardust capsule as
it streaks through the atmosphere early Sunday with its precious cargo
of comet dust.

Although the resulting fireball could be brighter than Venus and set off
a sonic boom as it soars over Nevada and Utah, the view will not be as
spectacular from California, said Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute
in Mountain View, who is organizing the observations.

``The fireball will be relatively low in the sky,'' he said, ``and at
the time it reaches peak brightness we'll be seeing it from the rear.''

For the best shot, go to a dark spot with a clear view of the horizon to
the north, northwest and northeast. Bring binoculars or a camcorder, and
watch the clock: The capsule is scheduled to re-enter the atmosphere at
39 seconds past 1:56 a.m. PST, give or take four seconds.

Official observers can register on a Web site.

Meanwhile, scientists at the University of California-Berkeley are
trying to recruit 30,000 people to help find rare interstellar dust
particles in samples from the capsule.

Volunteers will use Web-based ``virtual microscopes'' on their home
computers to focus up and down through images, looking for tracks left
by particles in the fluffy aerogel that was used to collect and cushion
them.

If they get enough recruits, the job could be finished by late this
year, said Andrew Westphal, a researcher at UC-Berkeley.

``This project was born out of desperation,'' he said. Without the Web
technology, it would have taken an army of expert microscopists working
full-time for years to get the job done.
Received on Tue 10 Jan 2006 12:15:36 PM PST