Stardust Status Report December 2, 2005
All subsystems are nominal as STARDUST continues it quiescence cruise towards Earth.
The Trajectory Correction Maneuver 17 of 4.17 m/s was successfully executed with high precision on November 16. The probability of needing to perform a follow-on cleanup maneuver (TCM 17a or b) is very low.
The spacecraft is performing its second set of limit cycle calibrations for Earth approach navigation.
The Recovery Team completed Trainings #9 and #10 at UTTR in Utah in the night using ground vehicles. The temperatures were around freezing with periods of snow and rain. The UTTR Mission readiness was also completed.
Information on the present position and orbits of the Stardust spacecraft and comet Wild 2 may be found on the “Where Is Stardust Right Now?” web page located at:
http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/scnow.html .
For more information on the Stardust mission — the first ever comet sample-return mission — please visit the Stardust home page:
