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
STARDUST MISSION STATUS
March 15, 1999
NASA's Stardust spacecraft is in excellent heath as it
ventures away from Earth. Last week, the spacecraft switched over
to its medium gain antenna and a higher data rate than is
possible with the low-gain antenna used in previous weeks when
Stardust was much closer to Earth.
Stardust sent back new data from two instruments -- one that
measures "hits" by dust particles and another that will analyze
comet and interstellar dust samples. With the higher data rate,
the spacecraft also successfully sent back an engineering test
image -- Stardust's first -- taken by the star camera navigation
aid. The instrument data and star camera image had been
"backlogged" on board while the low-gain antenna and its lower
data rate was in use.
The star camera's first image shows Mars shining brightly
against the star background as seen from the Stardust's view. The
image will be posted on the Stardust web site at
http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov this week. The dust particle
Last Updated: November 26, 2003
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