STARDUST Status Report

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.

Where is Stardust now?