[meteorite-list] The Science Channel Documents The Stardust Mission

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Jan 18 17:25:20 2006
Message-ID: <200601182223.k0IMNfl26672_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 2, 2006
Contact: Andrew Scafetta:
240.662.5519
Andrew_scafetta_at_discovery.com
                                            
Mary Kate Cranston:
202-362-3494
mary_kate_cranston-cw_at_discovery.com


In CATCHING THE COMET, THE SCIENCE CHANNEL DOCUMENTS THE FIRST U.S. SPACE
MISSION DEDICATED TO THE EXPLORATION OF A COMET AND THE FIRST RETURN OF
COMET DUST TO EARTH

 -- NASA Partners With Discovery Networks On Astronomical First --

Silver Spring, MD -- The Science Channel and NASA enter a new frontier with
CATCHING THE COMET, which premieres Tuesday, January 24 at 9 PM (ET/PT).
The one-hour special takes viewers on an unprecedented journey to the first
U.S. space mission dedicated solely to the exploration of a comet, and the
first robotic mission designed to return comet dust to the earth for
scientific analysis.

In 2004, a NASA spacecraft flew past a comet named Wild 2 and collected
comet dust for the first time in a specially designed high-tech capsule.
Now, that same capsule is scheduled to fall to earth in the middle of the
night on January 15, 2006 at a classified location in the desert of Utah.

CATCHING THE COMET showcases the complex science behind this landmark event
as one of the world's leading experts on interstellar dust and NASA's lead
scientist for the mission, Dr. Donald Brownlee, takes viewers step-by-step
through the extraordinary project and shares his vast knowledge of comets.

"We're so excited to be working with NASA and Discovery Channel Canada on
this unprecedented project and this amazing moment of scientific
discovery,"said Jane Root, executive vice president and general manager

for Discovery Channel, Science Channel and the Military Channel. "CATCHING
THE COMET is a blue chip example of The Science Channel's continuing
commitment to bring viewers the best in scientific exploration, innovation
and cutting edge programming."

This NASA mission is extremely significant because scientists hope the dust
from these balls of gas, dust and ice will reveal clues to the physical and
chemical conditions of the Solar System as it existed 4.6 billion years
ago. Scientists do not know if the capsule will survive re-entry or if
NASA will be able to retrieve it from the flats of Utah in the dark of
night. Helicopters will transport the matter to a specially prepared lab
for analysis.

Brownlee, professor of Astronomy at the University of Washington and author
of Rare Earth and The Life and Death of Planet Earth, will give viewers a
behind-the-scenes tour of NASA's mission control, along with an explanation
about the preparation that scientists and engineers executed for the
high-tech capsule's return and its actual re-entry into the earth's
atmosphere.

According to NASA, the canister is scheduled to re-enter Earth's atmosphere
on January 15, 2006 and opened on January 20, 2006. The comet dust
collector inside the canister loosely resembles an oversized tennis racket
and contains cells filled with aerogel - a strong and sponge-like substance
so light it almost floats in the air. During the brief encounter with
Comet Wild 2 in 2004, the sample tray with the aerogel cells was exposed to
capture the comet dust, and then retracted into the canister for its long
journey back to Earth.

CATCHING THE COMET is co-produced by Discovery Channel Canada and The
Science Channel. Penny Park is supervising producer for Discovery Channel
Canada and Allan Butler is executive producer for The Science Channel.
Jane Root is executive in charge of production.

The Science Channel is part of Discovery Networks, U.S., a unit of
Discovery Communications, Inc., which also operates and manages the
Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, the Travel Channel, Discovery Health
Channel, Discovery HD Theater, Discovery Kids Channel, Discovery Times
Channel, Military Channel, Discovery Home Channel, Discovery en Espanol and
FitTV. The unit also distributes BBC AMERICA.

Additional program information is available on www.press.discovery.com.

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Received on Wed 18 Jan 2006 05:23:41 PM PST