[meteorite-list] NASA's Venerable Comet Hunter Wraps Up Mission (Stardust)

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 09:28:02 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201103251628.p2PGS2IC028479_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

>
> Hi Ron and List,
>
> It's sad to the see the old girl go. On it's current course, where
> will the craft go? I am assuming out of the solar system and into
> interstellar space, but will it head towards a specific star or just
> out into "empty" space?
>

It is very sad. I've worked on Stardust for 11 years. The spacecraft will remain in
orbit around the Sun.

Tim Larson: "When we take into account all the possibilities for how long the burn
could be and then the possible post-burn trajectories, we project that
over the next 100 years, Stardust will not get any closer than 1.7
million miles of Earth's orbit, or within 13 million miles of Mars
orbit," said Larson. "That is far enough from protected targets to meet
all of NASA's Planetary Protection directives. "

Ron Baalke
Received on Fri 25 Mar 2011 12:28:02 PM PDT