Stardust Status Report 1 June 2001
There was one Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking pass this week and all
subsystems are performing normally. The Stardust spacecraft is out
beyond the orbit of Mars and is heading toward the main asteroid belt
that is between Mars and Jupiter.
The Cometary and Interstellar Dust Analyzer (CIDA) instrument continues
to observe the interstellar dust stream with an optimal spacecraft
attitude when not in communication with Earth.
The weekly navigation camera images were taken and the image quality
remains excellent. There is no indication of recontamination.
Commands are being prepared for the navigation camera’s guide star images
on June 4.
A successful test was performed in the Spacecraft Test Laboratory and the
results are being reviewed. The images, taken through the periscope and
off the periscope, are of the two stars that will be used to locate Comet
Wild 2 in the fall of 2003.
For more information on the Stardust mission — the first ever comet sample
return mission — please visit the Stardust home page: http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov