Stardust Status Report

June 1, 2001

There was one Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking pass this week and all subsystems are performing normally. The Stardust spacecraft is out beyond the orbit of Mars and is heading toward the main asteroid belt that is between Mars and Jupiter.

The Cometary and Interstellar Dust Analyzer (CIDA) instrument continues to observe the interstellar dust stream with an optimal spacecraft attitude when not in communication with Earth.

The weekly navigation camera images were taken and the image quality remains excellent. There is no indication of recontamination.

Commands are being prepared for the navigation camera's guide star images on June 4.

A successful test was performed in the Spacecraft Test Laboratory and the results are being reviewed. The images, taken through the periscope and off the periscope, are of the two stars that will be used to locate Comet Wild 2 in the fall of 2003.

For more information on the Stardust mission - the first ever comet sample return mission - please visit the Stardust home page:

http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov