[meteorite-list] Stardust Update - January 30, 2006

[Ron Baalke]

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

D.C. Agle  (818) 393-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Dwayne Brown/Merrilee Fellows  (202) 358-1726/ (818) 393-0754
NASA Headquarters, Washington

News Release:  2006-016          		January 30, 2006

Stardust Mission Status Report
   
NASA's Stardust spacecraft was placed into hibernation mode 
yesterday. Stardust successfully returned to Earth samples of a 
comet via its sample return capsule on Jan. 15. The spacecraft has 
logged almost seven years of flight.

"We sang our spacecraft to sleep today with a melody of digital 
ones and zeros," said Tom Duxbury, Stardust project manager at 
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Stardust has 
performed flawlessly these last seven years and 2.88 billion miles 
and deserves a rest for a while, like the rest of the team." 

The "song" was actually a series of commands that was sent up 
to the spacecraft yesterday, Jan. 29 at 4 p.m. Pacific time (7 p.m. 
Eastern time). The commands deactivated all but a few essential 
systems, such as Stardust's solar arrays and receive antenna - which 
will remain powered on. This long-term hibernation state could allow 
for almost indefinite (tens of years) out-of-contact operations 
while maintaining the spacecraft health. 

"Placing Stardust in hibernation gives us options to possibly 
reuse it in the future," said Dr. Tom Morgan, Stardust Program 
Executive at NASA Headquarters, Washington. "The mission has already 
been a great success, but if at all possible we may want to add even 
more scientific dividends to this remarkable mission's record 
of achievement."

The Stardust spacecraft is currently in an orbit that travels from 
a little closer to the Sun than that of the Earth to well beyond 
the orbit of Mars. It will next fly past Earth on January 14, 2009, 
at a distance of about 1 million kilometers (621,300 miles). 

NASA's Stardust sample return mission successfully concluded its pr
ime mission on Jan. 15, 1006, when its sample return capsule carrying 
cometary and interstellar particles successfully touched down at 
2:10 a.m. Pacific time (3:10 a.m. Mountain time) in the desert salt 
flats of the Utah Test and Training Range. 

Stardust scientists at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston are 
currently analyzing what could be considered a treasure-trove of 
cometary and interstellar dust samples that exceeded their grandest 
expectations. Scientists believe these precious samples will help 
provide answers to fundamental questions about comets and the 
origins of the solar system. 

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the 
Stardust mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. 
Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operated the 
spacecraft. 

For information about the Stardust mission on the Web, visit 

www.nasa.gov/stardust .

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit 

http://www.nasa.gov/home .

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