STARDUST Status Report
May 29, 1998
Ken Atkins
STARDUST Project Manager
Assembly, Test, and Launch Operations (ATLO) activities: Replacement of
transistors in the flight command & data handling (C&DH) and power control
assembly (PCA) boxes was completed. The ATLO test unit replacements for
these boxes are performing as "stand-ins" on the spacecraft and a second
run of the "aliveness" test was completed with them in place. The
aliveness test confirms all subsystem interfaces are operational. System
integration continued with fold-up of the remaining side panel and mounting
of the Sample Return Capsule (SRC). The top panel was also installed.
Great progress has been made by the Lockheed Martin team. As can be seen
in the video feed to this website, the actual hardware is beginning to
resemble the pictures and artist concepts we've been looking at for many
months.
Outreach: Preparations for this weekend's public Open House at JPL were
completed with Stardust providing the leadership for the thematic booth on
small body (comet & asteroid) exploration. The open house is celebrating
NASA's 40th anniversary with the theme, "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow."
The Laboratory's ongoing research and space exploration missions will be
showcased during this popular, free event. More than 50,000 people are
expected to visit.
On the name collection campaign: As of May 28, 186,178 names had been
collected. The collaboration with the movie Deep Impact continued to
generate interest and awareness on the Stardust Web Site.
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
