[meteorite-list] NASA's Comet Tale Draws to a Successful Close in Utah Desert
From: Peter Marmet <p.marmet_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun Jan 15 11:50:35 2006 Message-ID: <E6E8F5A2-6D3C-4076-AFA5-3D826BA4A1F6_at_mysunrise.ch> COOOOOOOOL!!! Congratulations !!! Peter Ron Baalke wrote: > > MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE > JET PROPULSION LABORATORY > CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY > NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION > PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011 > http://www.jpl.nasa.gov > > D.C. Agle (818) 354-5011 > Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. > > Erica Hupp/Merrilee Fellows (202) 358-1237/(818) 393-0754 > NASA Headquarters, Washington > > 2006-009 > > NASA's Comet Tale Draws to a Successful Close in Utah Desert > January 15, 2006 > > NASA's Stardust sample return mission returned safely to Earth > when the capsule carrying cometary and interstellar particles > successfully touched down at 2:10 a.m. Pacific time (3:10 a.m. > Mountain time) in the desert salt flats of the U.S. Air Force > Utah Test and Training Range. > > "Ten years of planning and seven years of flight operations > were realized early this morning when we successfully picked > up our return capsule off of the desert floor in Utah," said > Tom Duxbury, Stardust project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion > Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "The Stardust project has delivered > to the international science community material that has been > unaltered since the formation of our solar system." > > Stardust released its sample return capsule at 9:57 p.m. Pacific > time (10:57 p.m. Mountain time) last night. The capsule entered > the atmosphere four hours later at 1:57 a.m. Pacific time (2:57 > a.m. Mountain time). The drogue and main parachutes deployed > at 2:00 and 2:05 a.m. Pacific time, respectively (3:00 and 3:05 > a.m. Mountain time). > > "I have been waiting for this day since the early 1980s when > Deputy Principal Investigator Dr. Peter Tsou of JPL and I designed > a mission to collect comet dust," said Dr. Don Brownlee, Stardust > principal investigator from the University of Washington, Seattle. > "To see the capsule safely back on its home planet is a thrilling > accomplishment." > > The sample return capsule's science canister and its cargo of > comet and interstellar dust particles will be stowed inside > a special aluminum carrying case to await transfer to the Johnson > Space Center, Houston, where it will be opened. NASA's Stardust > mission traveled 2.88 billion miles during its seven-year round-trip > odyssey. Scientists believe these precious samples will help > provide answers to fundamental questions about comets and the > origins of the solar system. > > NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages > the Stardust mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, > Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed > and operated the spacecraft. > > For information about the Stardust mission on the Web, visit > www.nasa.gov/stardust . For information about NASA and agency > programs on the Web, visit http://www.nasa.gov/home . > > > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > Received on Sun 15 Jan 2006 11:51:08 AM PST |
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