Stardust Status Report

November 21, 2001

There were two Deep Space Network (DSN) tracking passes this past week with one of the passes dedicated to radiometric Doppler and ranging tracking only. The spacecraft and all its subsystems are operating normally.

On December 24, the Stardust spacecraft will pass within a half a degree of the Sun as seen from Earth, interfering with communications, as expected, for a week before and after this time. In preparation for this solar conjunction, the command to extend the command loss timer from 15 days to 20 days is being tested.

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