[meteorite-list] NASA Gathers Stardust From 'Bernese' Comet (Paul Wild)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Jan 12 15:16:15 2006
Message-ID: <200601122014.k0CKEen14333_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=511&sid=6376311&cKey=1137060470000

Nasa gathers stardust from "Bernese" comet
Antoinette Schwab
www.swissinfo.org
January 12, 2006

[Image]
Paul Wild, astronomy professor at Bern University (RDB)

On Sunday the space probe Stardust will return to earth after a
seven-year journey to collect dust particles from the comet Wild 2.
 
The comet was named after its discoverer, the Bernese astronomy
professor, Paul Wild.

"It was only a small whitish spot on the edge of a photograph," Wild
says of the object he saw for the first time on January 6, 1978.

The emeritus professor and former director of Bern University's
Astronomical Institute had seen such spots many times when he checked
images of the night sky for changes.

"In 90 per cent of cases, the spots were mistakes in the film," he said.
 
Star among comets
 
He hoped to do a follow-up observation a day later but the weather was
too bad.

This continued for weeks - in the end, he had to wait three weeks after
first spotting the fleck in the photograph to continue his investigations.

To his surprise, the spot was still there; it had just changed its
position slightly. It became quickly clear that he had discovered a comet.

Comets are always named after their discoverers.

It was not his first and it would not be his last. But Wild 2 went on to
become a star.
 
Mission Stardust
 
Wild 2 is on the move. It is presumed to have come into being and
orbited for a long time at a much greater distance from the sun.

It must have taken its current course not long before it was discovered,
during which it came close to the sun a few times. As it hasn't been
heated much by the sun, it still consists mostly of its original material.

A few years ago, the United States space agency, Nasa, chose Wild 2 as
the destination for a space probe. Stardust is the first Nasa mission to
examine comets.

"Of course it was very special for me that Nasa chose my comet for its
mission," Wild said.
 
Hi-tech
 
The 85-year-old astronomer was at Cape Canaveral when the probe blasted
off into space in February 1999.

The probe's task was to collect minute dust particles from the comet.
The space agency even developed a special substance, called aerogel, to
trap the particles and to protect them.

By analysing the dust, space researchers hope to learn more about the
comet's make-up and how the solar system came into being.

Two years ago, the space probe came within 240km of the comet and flew
through its tail. During this period, the probe took photographs and
sent them to earth.

"These images are better than we hoped for in our wildest dreams," raved
Nasa's Ray Newburn.

Whether dust samples were successfully collected will be revealed after
the probe lands on earth.
 
Fastest object
 
After seven years and some 4.6 billion kilometres, if all goes to plan,
Stardust's capsule will land on January 15 at 1112 CET in the desert of
the US state of Utah.

The probe will separate from the capsule around midnight. This process
will generate a speed which no other manmade object has ever achieved,
says Nasa. A few hours later, the capsule will enter the earth's
atmosphere and return to land attached to a parachute.

It will be carrying a letter, written by Wild, which accompanied the
probe on its journey into space.
Received on Thu 12 Jan 2006 03:14:39 PM PST