Posted on 01/07/2006 5:44:50 PM PST by RightWhale
Stardust tweaks course home
MISSION STATUS REPORT Posted: January 5, 2006
Ten days before its historic return to Earth with the first-ever samples from a comet, NASA's Stardust spacecraft successfully performed its 18th flight path adjustment. This second-to-last scheduled maneuver puts the spacecraft on the right path to rendezvous with Earth on Jan. 15 (Universal Time), when it will release its sample return capsule.
At 1800 Universal Time (10:00 am Pacific Time) on Thursday, Jan. 5, Stardust fired all eight of its 4.4 newton (1-pound) thrusters for a total of 107 seconds, changing the comet sampler's speed by 2.4 meters per second (about 5.4 miles per hour). The maneuver required 385 grams (0.85 pounds) of hydrazine monopropellant to complete. A final trajectory correction maneuver is scheduled prior to release of the sample return capsule.
"It was a textbook maneuver," said Ed Hirst, Stardust deputy mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "After sifting through all the post-burn data, I expect we will find ourselves right on the money."
In the early morning hours of January 15, 2006, the Stardust mission returns to Earth after a 4.63 billion kilometer (2.88 billion mile) round-trip journey carrying a precious cargo of cometary and interstellar dust particles. Scientists believe Stardust¹s cargo will help provide answers to fundamental questions about the origins of the solar system.
Scientists believe in-depth terrestrial analysis of cometary samples will reveal much not just about comets but about the earliest history of the solar system. Locked within the cometary particles is unique chemical and physical information that could be the record of the formation of the planets and the materials from which they were made.
JPL manages the Stardust mission for NASA¹s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. NASA's Johnson Space Center contributed to Stardust payload development, and the Johnson Space Center will curate the sample and support analysis and sample allocation.
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Sample return mission nearing re-entry
Whoa, sounds like a job for FReeperlivethread!
Won't want to miss this.
Tips on Stardust SRC Entry Viewing (for those luck enough to be in the right area) http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/viewingforum.html
Yeah, we do real good on live spaceshots. The only ones that do better are sitting in mission control.
Odds are good the sky will be clear in that region--California/Oregon-Nevada.
COOL!!!! landing about 40 miles from my house. You can bet I'll be watching.
Ping me if you start a live thread, please.
So how much dust did this thing collect?
Less than one-thousandth of an ounce of cometary dust will be collected.
Check out that website, lots of information on when and
where to view!
We are stardust
we are golden
la la la la la la la something something
:-)
Ping-a-ding-ding!
My family's names are etched on chip # 2 that was launched with the spacecraft in 1999. ( "Space 1999 "coming true )Been a long ride .
After I retired, I worked for a Govt. contractor on UTTR where it is going to land.
I have already picked out 4 prime areas to watch it come in, all 4 on I-80 and in rest areas. All 4 should have prime observation, and should be within 20 miles of the target area.
If anybody wants more info, FReepmail me.
My age is showing,, couldn't remember the darn lyrics..
Time heals all wounds inflicted, liberal ones included, thanks!
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