In search of clues about the origin of life on Earth and other secrets, a crew flying on a NASA DC-8 aircraft will study the small, speeding Stardust capsule returning from space early in 2006.
Two years earlier, in January 2004, the Stardust spacecraft flew within 147 miles (236 kilometers) of the comet Wild 2 (VILT-TWO) and survived the high-speed impact of millions of dust particles and small rocks up to nearly two-tenths of an inch (one half centimeter) across. With its tennis-racket-shaped collector extended, Stardust captured thousands of comet particles.
The returning Stardust capsule will strike Earth's atmosphere during the early morning darkness in mid-January 2006, at eight miles (12.8 kilometers) per second - more than 10 times faster than a speeding bullet. That is fast enough to go from San Francisco to Los Angeles in only one minute. The DC-8 crew will face the daunting task of tracking and observing the 101-pound (45.7 kilogram) conical object as it hurtles through the atmosphere and slows before the spacecraft finally parachutes down in a Utah desert.
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Full Story can be found here
http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=1219179
Sir Ulli
Two years earlier, in January 2004, the Stardust spacecraft flew within 147 miles (236 kilometers) of the comet Wild 2 (VILT-TWO) and survived the high-speed impact of millions of dust particles and small rocks up to nearly two-tenths of an inch (one half centimeter) across. With its tennis-racket-shaped collector extended, Stardust captured thousands of comet particles.
The returning Stardust capsule will strike Earth's atmosphere during the early morning darkness in mid-January 2006, at eight miles (12.8 kilometers) per second - more than 10 times faster than a speeding bullet. That is fast enough to go from San Francisco to Los Angeles in only one minute. The DC-8 crew will face the daunting task of tracking and observing the 101-pound (45.7 kilogram) conical object as it hurtles through the atmosphere and slows before the spacecraft finally parachutes down in a Utah desert.
...
Full Story can be found here
http://www.seti.org/site/pp.asp?c=ktJ2J9MMIsE&b=1219179
Sir Ulli
