[meteorite-list] UW Astronomer Hits Cosmic Paydirt with Stardust

[Ron Baalke]

Office of News and Information
University of Washington
Washington, D.C.

CONTACT:
Vince Stricherz, 206-543-2580

Jan. 18, 2006

UW astronomer hits cosmic paydirt with Stardust

Scientists at the Johnson Space Center in Houston were excited and awed 
Tuesday by what they saw when the sample-return canister from the Stardust 
spacecraft was opened.

"It exceeds all expectations," said Donald Brownlee, a University of 
Washington astronomy professor who is principal investigator, or lead 
scientist, for Stardust. "It's a huge success. We can see lots of impacts. 
There are big ones, there are small ones."

Stardust returned to Earth in a spectacular re-entry early Sunday after a 
7-year mission to collect particles from comet Wild 2 and samples of 
interstellar dust streaming into our solar system from other parts of the 
galaxy. The comet dates from the formation of the solar system 4.6 billion 
years ago.

Brownlee calculated there might be more than a million microscopic specks 
of dust embedded in Stardust's aerogel collector. Aerogel, a remarkable 
material that is as much as 99.9 percent empty space, greatly reduced the 
stress of impact on the particles, he said. The carrot-shaped tracks of 
much larger particles are visible in the aerogel from several feet away, 
Brownlee said, and in some of the tracks the black comet dust is visible 
at the end of the track. One track, he said, "is almost large enough to 
put your little finger into it."

Scientists will search the aerogel grid for dust samples, and more than 
65,000 people have signed up to help in a project called Stardust at home, in 
which their home computers will examine images of tiny sections of the 
aerogel grid looking for dust particles.

The Johnson Space Center will be the curator of the Stardust samples, and 
as many as 150 scientists worldwide are waiting to study them.

"Stardust is a phenomenal success," Brownlee said.

For more information, contact Brownlee at (818) 726-5563 or (206) 
543-8575.  

Stardust on the Web,

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

IMAGE CAPTION:
[http://www.uwnews.org/photos.asp?articleID=21947&spid=21954]
In an experiment using a special air gun, particles were shot into aerogel 
at high velocities. This closeup shows particles captured in aerogel. The 
particles leave a carrot-shaped trail in the aerogel. ( NASA/Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory)

[NOTE: Images of Stardust sample arriving at Johnson Space Center are 
available at
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stardust/main/index.html ]