NASA's Stardust spacecraft successfully landed on the Utah desert at about 5:12 a.m. EST (1012 GMT) on Jan. 15, 2006, its sample contained laden with pieces of Comet Wild 2 (pronounced “Vilt 2”) and interstellar dust.
Below is SPACE.com’s archive of stories covering the Stardust mission, which launched in 1999. The stories are presented in reverse chronological order with the most recent updates at the top. This page was last updated on March 20, 2006.
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Aerogel Science
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 Aerogel: Stardust's 'Butterfly Net'
PASADENA,
Calif. Come Tuesday, February 22, the Stardust spacecraft will attempt to
collect the speeding particles of interstellar dust that stream into our solar
system from distant stars.
 Staying
Warm with 'Frozen Smoke' of Aerogel
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Famous for being the world's lightest solid, Aerogel also is proving to be a winning material for super insulating blankets.
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A Comet Unveiled
NASA's Stardust Comet Samples Contain Minerals Born in Fire
Pieces of a comet returned to Earth by NASA’s Stardust spacecraft apparently formed near the Sun or around another star altogether before being flung to the outer edges of the Solar System, mission scientists said Monday.
Stardust Mission Yields Ancient Comet Dust
After a seven-year wait, scientists have finally been able to analyze the cometary and stellar dust particles captured by the NASA Stardust spacecraft.
Coming
Home
Stardust: Sample Harvesting Underway
Scientists are busy at work “sample harvesting”—extracting comet particles from aerogel-laden capture trays brought back to Earth last month via the Stardust return capsule.
Stardust Put In Hibernation Mode
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- NASA has deactivated most of the Stardust spacecraft that collected the first comet dust ever gathered in space, two weeks after the probe jettisoned samples to Earth from its seven-year voyage through the heavens.
Capsules From the Cosmos: Stardust Success Could Signal More Sample Missions
When the Stardust capsule blazed its way through Earth’s atmosphere to a parachute landing in Utah earlier this month, the event was a preview of extraterrestrial attractions to come.
Stardust Mission Succeeds in Returning Comet Dust
Scientists confirmed today that the Stardust sample return capsule that parachuted to Earth last weekend achieved a mission goal of catching comet and interstellar dust particles.
Stardust Canister Opened: 'A Huge Success'
Fresh from its fall to Earth last weekend, the Stardust sample return capsule has been opened in a cleanroom at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.
Stardust Capsule: Safe Landing, Now The Science
Scientists and engineers are ecstatic with the landing and overall condition of the Stardust sample return capsule recovered today in Utah after a 2.9 billion mile round-trip space voyage.
Mission Completed: Stardust Capsule Lands in Utah
DENVER, Colo. -- After nearly seven years and a 2.88 billion mile journey, NASA's Stardust sample capsule has landed at the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR). An unofficial touch down was 5:10 a.m. EST.
Landing Day: NASA's Stardust Probe Returns to Earth
NASA’s Stardust spacecraft successfully landed in the Utah desert in the predawn hours of Jan. 15, 2005. Here’s how the landing day unfolded for the probe beginning with the most recent update.
Stardust Observers Ready For Human-Made Fireball
When NASA’s Stardust sample return capsule fireballs toward a pre-dawn Utah landing this Sunday, ground and airborne observers are ready to record the spectacular sky diving, human-made meteor.
Back-Up Plan for Stardust Mission a Three-Year Detour
If the incoming Stardust spacecraft fails to deliver its capsule carrying a grab bag of interstellar and cometary goodies to Earth this weekend, scientists will have to wait several years before another attempt is possible.
Stardust@home Project Brings Cosmic Dust to Your Desktop
Finding a piece of the cosmos may be as easy as logging onto the Internet for amateur sleuths bent on aiding NASA’s Stardust mission.
Genesis
Crash Inquiry Helps Stardust Return
Back in
2004, when NASA’s Genesis return sample capsule tumbled from the sky and
slammed into the Utah desert, scientists quite literally had to pick up the
pieces of the mission.
NASA
Probe to Light the Skies on Jan. 15 Re-entry
When the Stardust
sample return capsule nose dives back to Earth in January, it will become the
fastest human-made object to streak through the atmosphere.
Stardust
Capsule Headed For Utah Landing
NASA’s Stardust
spacecraft is en route to Earth, a time capsule carrying the fundamental
building blocks of our solar system when it formed billions of years ago. Next
month, the spacecraft is to eject to Earth a capsule filled with particles of
interstellar and comet dust.
Quarry in Tow, Stardust Begins Long Journey Home
Stardust is
on its way home with its quarry -- comet particles some 4.5 billion years old
-- in tow.
A Cometary
Encounter
Stardust
Captures the Best Comet Image Ever
NASA
yesterday released a second close-up image of a comet taken Jan. 2 by the
Stardust spacecraft. Astronomers said the dozens of photographs beamed back are
the best ever made of a comet.
Strange
Comet Unlike Anything Known
A
detailed analysis of the comet Wild 2 (pronounced "Vilt 2")
has left astronomers astounded at an object that has no known peers in the
solar system.
Crazy
Comet: 'Wild' Surface Seen Up Close
Astronomers
can't yet make heads or tails out of all the crazy things they've seen in
close-up pictures of comet Wild-2.
Stardust
Prepares to Make History
A
NASA spacecraft is preparing to not only get close and personal with a comet
this week, but also fly through object's tail and steal pieces of it for
scientists on Earth.
Stardust
Images Comet Prior to January Flyby
NASA's
Stardust spacecraft is set to rendezvous with a comet on Jan. 2, and now
astronomers have gotten their first look at the icy object.
Scientists
Surprised: Stardust Sees Details of Asteroid Annefrank
NASA's
Stardust spacecraft successfully completed a close flyby Saturday of an
asteroid named Annefrank, taking dozens of pictures expected to be released to
the public this week.
Stardust
Spacecraft to Visit Asteroid Annefrank
The
Stardust spacecraft, en route to collect comet dust and return it to Earth,
will fly by a small asteroid next month and use the opportunity to test
equipment and procedures, NASA officials said this week. The asteroid,
discovered in 1942 and later named Annefrank, is about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers)
in diameter.
Stardust Spacecraft Sets Solar-Powered Record
The Stardust
spacecraft yesterday reached a point in space farther from the Sun than any
other solar-powered craft in history. Stardust is now more than 253 million
miles (407 million kilometers) from the Sun.
Stardust
Powers On; More Matter Collected
Fresh
from a zip
past Earth en route to a comet, NASA's stardust spacecraft has already
picked up another micro-passenger -- a mote of interstellar dust.
Stardust
Snaps Moon Picture
Seventeen hours
after slipping
past Earth on January 15, the comet-bound
Stardust
spacecraft tested its ailing camera by taking a picture of the Moon from
about 67,110 miles (108,000 kilometers) away.
Leaving
Earth
Stardust
Heads for Comet
WASHINGTON
-- Racing over a "speed bump" could mean expensive car repairs. But
in the world of celestial mechanics, a bump-up in velocity can give spacecraft
the right alignment.
Comet
Chaser to Run By Earth
WASHINGTON
-- Earth will get a little extra "stardust" next week. NASA’s Stardust
spacecraft -- en route to a rendezvous with comet
Wild 2
-- zips by
Earth
on
Monday.
Cometcatcher
Trims Course for Earth Flyby
PASADENA,
Calif. NASA’s Stardust is on track for a Jan. 15 flyby of Earth after flight
engineers trimmed the comet-chasing spacecrafts trajectory this week.
Spacecraft Stardust's Blurry Vision Persists
PASADENA, Calif. An attempt to
boil off an unknown substance blurring the camera on NASA’s Stardust
spacecraft has proved inconclusive, delaying a resolution to a
problem that has dogged the comet mission team for nearly a year.
NASA
Spacecraft Survives Solar Flare
PASADENA,
Calif. (AP) _ A NASA spacecraft on a seven-year mission to collect comet dust
survived a zap from an enormous solar flare this month.
Stardust
Craft Tested for Damage After Solar Storm
A test
performed Tuesday August 8 ruled out fears that solar flares damaged the camera
on the Stardust spacecraft, which is due to photograph Comet Wild 2 and collect comet
dust in
2004. Now engineers will try to fix another problem that threatens to degrade
Stardusts comet pictures.
Stardust
to Begin Sweep of Interstellar Particles
PASADENA,
Calif. Stardust will begin collecting particles of interstellar dust on
Tuesday, sweeping up and capturing microscopic specks of material that stream
into our solar system from faraway stars.
Stardust Completes
Most Critical Maneuver of Comet-Catching Mission
PASADENA,
Calif. NASA’s Stardust successfully completed on Saturday the most critical
maneuver of its seven-year mission to return comet samples to Earth, firing its
thrusters for the third time in a week to change the shape of its orbit.
NASA’s Comet-Catcher
Spacecraft Trims Course to Ready for Flyby in 2004
PASADENA,
Calif. NASA’s Stardust spacecraft fired thrusters on Tuesday to trim its course
for the first time, putting it closer on track to be the first probe ever to
capture and return to Earth a piece of a comet.
Comets
and Other Resources
Keeping Alien Samples Safe For Study
It's human nature to
clean for company more thoroughly than one would for oneself, but nowhere is
this truth taken to greater extremes than at the Johnson Space Center, where
NASA sets high standards of cleanliness in labs that handle samples returning
from space.
Comets
Data Sheet
Made of dust, ice,
carbon dioxide, ammonia and methane, comets resemble dirty snowballs. You may
remember them as blurry smudges in the sky.
Rosetta
Comet Chaser Successfully Launched
WASHINGTON
-- Europe's comet-chasing satellite Rosetta was successfully placed into orbit
by an Ariane 5 launch vehicle today from Europe's Guiana Space Center
spaceport, ending a year-long wait for a reliable rocket to be available and
starting a long voyage to the edge of the solar system.
Special Report: Deep Impact Spacecraft Smashes
Into a Comet
Special Report: NASA’s
Genesis Probe Crashes Back to Earth
