STARDUST To Catch A Falling Star And Put It In Its Pocket
News story originally written on February 15, 1999



Aerogel, shown above between the flower and the Bunsen burner, will be used during the STARDUST mission to collect comet and interstellar particles.
Click on image for full size (58K JPEG)
Image courtesy of Ernest Orlando, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Actually, Stardust will catch pieces of a comet and return them to Earth. Scientists think that comet pieces haven't changed since the Solar System formed. They want to study the comet pieces to find out more about the Solar System.

STARDUST will collect comet pieces in a special material called aerogel. Aerogel is like glass but is 1000 times lighter!

Stardust space mission to a comet
Comet Wild 2
Photos of the nucleus of Comet Wild 2
Stardust returns comet samples to Earth (Jan. 2006)
NASA JPL Stardust mission homepage

STARDUST To Catch A Falling Star And Put It In Its Pocket
News story originally written on February 15, 1999



Aerogel, shown above between the flower and the Bunsen burner, will be used during the STARDUST mission to collect comet and interstellar particles.
Click on image for full size (58K JPEG)
Image courtesy of Ernest Orlando, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Actually, Stardust will catch comet particles and return them to Earth. The spacecraft, which was launched February 7, 1999, is working fine. It will pass by Comet Wild-2 in 2004.

Comets were formed at the same times as our Solar System. They haven't changed much since the time of formation. Scientists hope to learn more about how our Solar System formed by studying pieces of the comet. Comet Wild-2 was recently knocked out of the Oort Cloud. It is relatively fresh when compared to historical ones such as Halley's Comet.

STARDUST will use a special material called aerogel to collect the comet particles. The aerogel is 1000 times less dense than glass. The particles are only about the size of a grain of salt but they are traveling faster than 9 times the speed of a bullet. They will slow down as they enter the aerogel. The particles caught in the aerogel will be dropped off in a reentry capsule that will parachute to Earth in 2006.

Stardust space mission to a comet
Comet Wild 2
Photos of the nucleus of Comet Wild 2
Stardust returns comet samples to Earth (Jan. 2006)
NASA JPL Stardust mission homepage

STARDUST To Catch A Falling Star And Put It In Its Pocket
News story originally written on February 15, 1999



Aerogel, shown above between the flower and the Bunsen burner, will be used during the STARDUST mission to collect comet and interstellar particles.
Click on image for full size (58K JPEG)
Image courtesy of Ernest Orlando, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
More precisely, Stardust will catch comet particles and return them to Earth. The spacecraft, which launched February 7, 1999, is working fine and on its way to a rendezvous with Comet Wild-2 in 2004.

"Not only do we have to get to where we're going...but then we've got to turn around and come home again," said Carl Pilcher, NASA's science director for solar system exploration. "This certainly adds a new level of complexity and difficulty."

Comets were formed at the same time as our Solar System and haven't changed very much with time. Comet Wild-2 was recently dislodged from the Oort Cloud and is relatively fresh compared with historical ones such as Halley's comet. Scientists hope to learn more about how our Solar System formed by studying particles from the comet.

STARDUST will use a special material called aerogel to collect the comet particles without damaging them. Aerogel is 1000 times less dense than glass. The particles are only about the size of a grain of salt but are moving at speeds over 13,000 mph. The particles will embed in the aerogel, slowing down as they enter the material. The particles caught in the aerogel will be dropped off in a reentry capsule that will parachute to Earth in 2006.

Stardust space mission to a comet
Comet Wild 2
Photos of the nucleus of Comet Wild 2
Stardust returns comet samples to Earth (Jan. 2006)
NASA JPL Stardust mission homepage


Last modified January 11, 2006 by Randy Russell.
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