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) 354-9011
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Erica Hupp/Merrilee Fellows (202) 358-1237/ (818) 393-0754
NASA Headquarters, Washington
NEWS RELEASE: 2006-007
January 12, 2006
NASA'S COMET HUNTER ON FINAL APPROACH FOR SUNDAY LANDING
NASA's Stardust mission return capsule will land Sunday, Jan. 15, at
approximately 2:12 a.m. Pacific time (3:12 a.m. Mountain time) on the Utah
Test and Training Range. Stardust is completing a 2.88 billion mile
round-trip odyssey to capture and return cometary and interstellar dust
particles to Earth.
The spacecraft performs its last maneuver to put it on the correct path to
enter Earth's atmosphere on Friday, Jan. 13, at 8:53 p.m. Pacific time
(9:53 p.m. Mountain time). The speed of the sample return capsule as it
enters Earth's atmosphere at 46,440 kilometers per hour (28,860 miles per
hour) will be the greatest of any human-made object on record. The
previous record was set in May 1969 by the returning Apollo 10 command module.
The capsule will release a parachute at approximately 32 kilometers
(105,000 feet) and descend to the salt flats. Weather permitting, it will
be recovered by helicopter teams and taken to a cleanroom at the Michael
Army Air Field, Dugway Proving Ground, for initial processing.
Stardust launched on Feb. 7, 1999, and encountered comet Wild 2 on Jan. 2,
2004. It flew less than 241 kilometers (150 miles) from the comet's nucleus
to capture tiny grains of dust. During the voyage, the spacecraft captured
bits of interstellar dust streaming into the solar system from other parts
of the galaxy. Scientists believe these precious samples will help provide
answers to fundamental questions about comets and the origins of the solar
system. Additional Stardust information is online at
http://www.nasa.gov/stardust .
A synopsis of the mission's final hours is online at
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stardust/news/stardustf-20060112.html . A brief timeline is at
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stardust/timeline/index.html .
NASA TV coverage of the landing starts Sunday at 1:30 a.m. Pacific time
(2:30 a.m. Mountain time) on the Public (101), Education (102) and Media
(103) channels. NASA TV is available on an MPEG-2 digital C-band signal
accessed via satellite AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude, transponder
17C, 4040 MHz, vertical polarization. In Alaska and Hawaii, it's available
on AMC-7 at 137 degrees west longitude, transponder 18C, at 4060 MHz,
horizontal polarization. For NASA TV information and schedules on the Web,
visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv .
