Stardust completes comet flyby
Posted: Fri, Jan 2, 2004, 8:23 PM ET (0123 GMT)
NASA's Stardust spacecraft successfully flew past the nucleus of comet Wild-2 on Friday, collecting images, other data, and samples of comet dust to return to Earth. Stardust made its close approach to Wild-2 at approximately 2:45 pm EST (1945 GMT), passing 240 kilometers from the comet's nucleus. An image of the nucleus, released at a press conference a few hours after the flyby, reveals a fairly round body several kilometers across whose surface is pockmarked with craters and erosional features. The spacecraft also collected data on number of dust particles in the comet's coma and their composition; that data is being transmitted back to Earth for analysis. The spacecraft also collected some comet dust particles as well, which will be returned to Earth along with samples of the interplanetary medium collected earlier in the mission, in January 2006.
NASA's Stardust spacecraft successfully flew past the nucleus of comet Wild-2 on Friday, collecting images, other data, and samples of comet dust to return to Earth. Stardust made its close approach to Wild-2 at approximately 2:45 pm EST (1945 GMT), passing 240 kilometers from the comet's nucleus. An image of the nucleus, released at a press conference a few hours after the flyby, reveals a fairly round body several kilometers across whose surface is pockmarked with craters and erosional features. The spacecraft also collected data on number of dust particles in the comet's coma and their composition; that data is being transmitted back to Earth for analysis. The spacecraft also collected some comet dust particles as well, which will be returned to Earth along with samples of the interplanetary medium collected earlier in the mission, in January 2006.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Starship explodes during preparations for static-fire test
Posted: Sun, Jun 22 6:52 AM ET (1052 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Monday, June 30
Starlink subscriptions drops 11% in Kenya as Safaricom 5G routers win over users
Techcabal — 5:42 am ET (0942 GMT) Citizens file appeal against 40 Starlink satellite antennae planned in Swiss village
Swissinfo — 5:41 am ET (0941 GMT) Can Starlink stay ahead in satellite internet?
NPR — 5:41 am ET (0941 GMT) Blue Origin successfully launches latest human flight from West Texas
KTSM-TV El Paso — 5:39 am ET (0939 GMT) Blue Origin N-S 33 lifts off
KVIA-TV El Paso, TX — 5:39 am ET (0939 GMT) |
