Stardust Status Report May 31, 2002
There was one Deep Space Network tracking pass this past week and all
spacecraft subsystems are performing normally. The spacecraft is currently
328 million kilometers (203 million miles) from Earth and has traveled over
2.2 billion kilometers (1.4 million miles) around the Sun since its launch
in February 1999.
The upgrade to the Spacecraft Test Laboratory has been completed. Testing
has begun on the software for the star field pattern matching and windowing
to prepare for the Comet Wild 2 encounter.
The second interstellar dust collection is scheduled to begin on July 22.
At that time, the sample return capsule will be opened and the aerogel
collector will be extended out of the capsule to capture interstellar
particles.
For more information on the Stardust mission — the first ever comet sample
return mission — please visit the Stardust home page:
