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Stardust: A comet sample return mission

Brownlee, Donald E., Tsou, Peter, Clarke, Brendan, Hanner, M.S., Horz, Friedrich, Kissel, Jochen, McDonnell, J.A.M., Newburn, R.L., Sandford, Scott A., Sekanina, Z., and others. (2003) Stardust: A comet sample return mission. Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets, 109 (E12). ISSN 0148-0227. (doi:10.1029/2003JE002087) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:16175)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2003JE002087

Abstract

[1] Stardust, the 4th Discovery mission launched in February 1999, will collect coma samples from the recently deflected comet 81P/Wild 2 on 2 January 2004 and return them to Earth on 15 January 2006 for detailed laboratory analyses. Stardust will be the first mission to bring samples back to Earth from a known comet and also the first to bring back contemporary interstellar particles recently discovered. These samples should provide important insights into the nature and amount of dust released by comets, the roles of comets in planetary systems, clues to the importance of comets in producing dust in our zodiacal cloud as well as circumstellar dust around other stars, and the links between collected meteoritic samples with a known cometary body. Samples are collected in newly invented continuous gradient density silica aerogel. Stardust is facilitated by a magnificent trajectory designed to accomplish a complex and ambitious flyby sample return mission within the Discovery program restrictions. The remaining science payload, which provides important context for the captured samples, includes a time-of-flight spectrometer measuring the chemical and isotopic composition of dust grains; a polyvinylidene fluoride dust flux monitor determining dust flux profiles; a CCD camera for imaging Wild 2 coma and its nucleus; a shared X band transponder providing two-way Doppler shifts to estimate limits to Wild 2 mass and integrated dust fluence; and tracking of the spacecraft's attitude sensing for the detection of large particle impacts. The graphite composite spacecraft brings the collected sample back to Earth by a direct reentry in a capsule.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1029/2003JE002087
Uncontrolled keywords: comet sample return; Stardust mission; Wild 2
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Biosciences
Depositing User: P. Ogbuji
Date Deposited: 13 Apr 2009 19:04 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 09:54 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/16175 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

McDonnell, J.A.M..

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