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Stardust (spacecraft)

Stardust
A spacecraft is depicted following a comet from within its tail.
Artist's impression of Stardust at comet Wild 2.
Mission type Sample return flyby (81P/Wild)
Operator NASA · JPL
COSPAR ID 1999-003A
SATCAT № 25618
Website stardust.jpl.nasa.gov
Mission duration 6 years, 11 months, 8 days
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin · University of Washington
Launch mass 300 kg (660 lb)
Power 330 W (Solar array / NiH2 batteries)
Start of mission
Launch date February 7, 1999 (1999-02-07) 21:04:15 UTC
(17 years, 11 months and 30 days ago)
Rocket Delta II 7426
Launch site Cape Canaveral SLC-17
Contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems
End of mission
Landing date January 15, 2006 (2006-01-15) 10:10:00 UTC
(11 years and 22 days ago)
Landing site Utah Test and Training Range
40°21.9′N 113°31.25′W / 40.3650°N 113.52083°W / 40.3650; -113.52083
Flyby of 5535 Annefrank
Closest approach November 2, 2002 (2002-11-02) 04:50:20 UTC
(14 years, 3 months and 4 days ago)
Distance 3,079 kilometres (1,913 mi)
Flyby of Wild 2
Closest approach January 2, 2004 (2004-01-02) 19:21:28 UTC
(13 years, 1 month and 4 days ago)
Distance 237 kilometres (147 mi)

A triangular shape encloses an image of a spacecraft flying by a comet after departing from earth; its trail visible across the image.
Official insignia of the Stardust mission
Stardust NExT
A spacecraft fires its boosters to deplete its fuel, ending its mission.
Artist's impression of the Stardust spacecraft performing a burn-to-depletion at the end of the Stardust NExT mission.
Mission type Flyby (9P/Tempel)
Operator NASA · Jet Propulsion Laboratory
COSPAR ID 1999-003A
Website stardustnext.jpl.nasa.gov
Mission duration 3 years, 8 months, 21 days
Start of mission
Entered service July 3, 2007 (2007-07-03)
(9 years, 7 months and 3 days ago)
End of mission
Disposal Decommissioned
Last contact March 24, 2011 (2011-03-24) 11:33 UTC
(5 years, 10 months and 13 days ago)
Flyby of Tempel 1
Closest approach February 15, 2011 (2011-02-15) 04:42:00 UTC
(5 years, 11 months and 22 days ago)
Distance 181 kilometres (112 mi)
A triangular shape encloses an image of a spacecraft flying by a comet after departing from earth; its trail visible across the image.
Official insignia of the Stardust NExT mission

A triangular shape encloses an image of a spacecraft flying by a comet after departing from earth; its trail visible across the image.
Official insignia of the Stardust mission

Stardust was a 300-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on February 7, 1999. Its primary mission was to collect dust samples from the coma of comet Wild 2, as well as samples of cosmic dust, and return these to Earth for analysis. It was the first sample return mission of its kind. En route to comet Wild 2, the craft also flew by and studied the asteroid 5535 Annefrank. The primary mission was successfully completed on January 15, 2006, when the sample return capsule returned to Earth.

A mission extension codenamed NExT culminated in February 2011 with Stardust intercepting comet Tempel 1, a small Solar System body previously visited by Deep Impact in 2005. Stardust ceased operations in March 2011.

On August 14, 2014, scientists announced the identification of possible interstellar dust particles from the Stardust capsule returned to Earth in 2006.

Beginning in the 1980s, scientists began seeking a dedicated mission to study a comet. During the early 1990s, several missions to study comet Halley became the first successful missions to return close-up data. However, the US cometary mission, Comet Rendezvous Asteroid Flyby, was canceled for budgetary reasons. In the mid-1990s, further support was given to a cheaper, Discovery-class mission that would study comet Wild 2 in 2004.


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