anth
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# Posted: 10 Jan 2006 13:56
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The Stardust Comet mission - How you can help!
Remember the SETI@home screensaver? Where net users could aid the search for extra terrestrial radio signals, by downloading chunks of radio data gathered from the stars?
I can also remember the Martian crater identifying program by JPL NASA, where online Mars enthusiasts like myself could download images, and help paint a global picture of cratering on Mars, by indentifying various types of craters imaged by the Mars global surveyor space probe.
We now have a new challenge ahead of us. Those of us with a net connection and a willingness to help unlock the mysteries of the universe will shortly be able to download images of the Stardust comet probe's gel pack ( No! These are not simular to those on the USS Voyager  ). If you don't know what that is, its a small pack of sticky gel which was left open to a comets tail, as the Stardust probe flew past hopefully gathering up interstellar dust particles, and debris from the formation of the solar system. Material that is literally, the stuff we and the planets are made of.
Nope...This man has not just won the mens singles at Wimbledon. He is holding up a replica of the Stardust probes gel pack.
These images will have a field of view about the size of a grain of salt! Captured obviously by a high powered microscope. It would take about 30 to 40 thousand man hours to go over these images. So, JPL NASA is giving us the job!
We will be searching for tell tell particles that have collided with the gel pack. When we find them we will report it, and if verified by one other person out of four viewers, we will then be credited with its discovery. The first one to find a particle even gets the honour of naming it! Plus, joint recognision on any scientific paper resulting from the find.
Stardust returns to Earth on January 15th 2006. The Stardust@home project should be up and running this spring. You can register now to take part and find out lots more by clicking the link to the official website below.
http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
Artists impression of particles embedded in the gel pack.
About the Stardust mission
Animation of comet Wild2 as Stardust approached
Stardust is the name of a space mission that is studying a comet. NASA's Stardust spacecraft flew past a comet named Wild 2 in January 2004. During its flyby Stardust collected some dust particles from the comet. The spacecraft will bring those dust particles back to Earth so scientists can study them.
Scientists think they can learn what a comet is made of by studying the dust that Stardust collected. Some comets haven't changed very much since they formed in the early days of our Solar System. Knowing what comets are made of may help us understand what our Solar System was like soon after it was "born".
The Stardust spacecraft used a strange material called aerogel to capture dust particles from the comet. The dust was moving very fast - about 21,960 kilometers (13,650 miles) per hour - as it zoomed by Stardust. Aerogel is so light and fluffy that it was able to stop and capture dust grains without destroying them. A capsule from the spacecraft carrying the dust grains will land back on Earth in January 2006. Stardust also shot the best pictures ever of the nucleus of a comet during its flyby.
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anth
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# Posted: 15 Jan 2006 15:41
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NEWS UPDATE!
Stardust returns to Earth
NASA's Comet Tale Draws to a Successful Close in Utah Desert.
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.
Stardust Capsule Return as seen from NASA's DC-8 Airborne Laboratory with a mission to explore the conditions during reentry from the light emitted by the fireball caused when the capsule streaked through the sky. The aircraft was located near the end of the trajectory, just outside of Utah landing site. The participating researchers are from NASA Ames, the SETI Institute, the University of Alaska, Utah State University, Lockheed Martin, U.S. Air Force Academy, the University of Kobe (Japan), and Stuttgart University (Germany). Image Credit: NASA
The Stardust sample return capsule was transported by helicopter from its landing site at the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and Training Range. This image shows the return capsule inside a protective covering. The capsule, which landed at 2:10 a.m. Pacific time (3:10 a.m. Mountain time), contains cometary and interstellar samples gathered by the Stardust spacecraft. Credit: NASA.
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