Posted: Fri, Jan 19, 2001, 12:41 AM ET (0541 GMT)
NASA released Thursday an image of the Moon taken by the Stardust spacecraft during its Earth flyby earlier this week. The image was trumpeted as a success of efforts to remove contamination from the spacecraft's camera; however, the image did show some "halo" effects caused by residual contaminants on the camera's optics. Project officials believe the camera will still be able to fill its primary role as a navigation instrument as well as meet its science goals when the spacecraft flies by comet Wild-2 in January 2004. "We will see the size and shape of the comet and be able to detect small craters, variations in the brightness, dirty dusty areas, and newly iced surfaces," project manager Tom Duxbury said.

Related Links:

•  NASA/JPL press release
•  Stardust lunar image release