Stardust Status Report

June 6, 2003

The Stardust team had a half dozen periods of communication with the spacecraft in the past week. Telemetry relayed from the spacecraft indicates it is healthy and all subsystems continue to operate normally.

The Spacecraft Test Laboratory continues a series of test cases designed to stress the spacecraft's Attitude Control Subsystem. These tests are performed in the Spacecraft Test Laboratory and, at present, are exercising the spacecraft's "bang-bang" controller. The "bang-bang" controller is the name for the attitude control strategy the spacecraft will use while inside the coma of Comet Wild 2. The controller has the authority to engage Stardust's primary and secondary thrusters in the event of a large dust particle impact on the spacecraft.

Information on the present position and orbits of the Stardust spacecraft and Comet Wild 2 may be found on the "Where Is Stardust Right Now?" web page located at:

http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/scnow.html

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