Jan 2 2004
From The Space Library
NASA's Stardust spacecraft performed a flyby of comet Wild 2, obtaining particle samples, as well as the most detailed, high-resolution images ever taken of a comet. Stardust was the first robotic mission created to collect material from outside the Moon's orbit. Scientists planned to analyze the particle samples of the comet in January 2006, once the spacecraft had returned to Earth. During the flyby, Stardust flew within 240 kilometers (149 miles) of Wild 2, capturing images of the comet's nucleus at resolutions ranging from 6.5 to 32 kilometers (4 to 20 miles) per pixel. NASA scientists hoped that the images would help them better understand conditions on comets and that the particle samples ~ composed of materials identical to those that had formed planets ~ would reveal information about how comets and Earth's solar system formed. (NASA JPL, “NASA Spacecraft Makes Great Catch . . . Heads for Touchdown,” news release 2004-001, 2 January 2004; NASA JPL, “Stardust: NASA's Comet Sample Return Mission ~ Encounter with Comet Wild 2,” http://Stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/details2.html (accessed 9 January 2009).
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