Stardust Status Report June 6, 2003

The Stardust team had a half dozen periods of communication with the
spacecraft in the past week. Telemetry relayed from the spacecraft
indicates it is healthy and all subsystems continue to operate normally.

The Spacecraft Test Laboratory continues a series of test cases designed to
stress the spacecraft’s Attitude Control Subsystem. These tests are
performed in the Spacecraft Test Laboratory and, at present, are exercising
the spacecraft’s "bang-bang" controller. The "bang-bang" controller is the
name for the attitude control strategy the spacecraft will use while inside
the coma of Comet Wild 2. The controller has the authority to engage
Stardust’s primary and secondary thrusters in the event of a large dust
particle impact on the spacecraft.

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:

http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov .