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
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Wednesday, August 12
Firefly Now Targeting Next Alpha Flight By Year’s End
Aviation Week — 4:54 am ET (0854 GMT) 'Russian Starlink' Is Fast Becoming A Reality, There's Just One Problem For The Kremlin
Radio Free Europe — 4:52 am ET (0852 GMT) Firefly Aerospace Announces Extension of Multi-Launch Agreement with Lockheed Martin Through 2031
Firefly Aerospace — 4:50 am ET (0850 GMT) Firefly’s SciTec Awarded $94 Million U.S. Space Force Contract to Advance Ground-Based Radar Digitization Program
Firefly Aerospace — 4:49 am ET (0849 GMT) Registration Now Open for Spacepower Conference 2026
EINPresswire.com — 4:49 am ET (0849 GMT) |
