STARDUST Status Report

October 29, 1999

The STARDUST spacecraft continues to perform normally in cruise sequence SC010. This last week was quiet compared to the two previous weeks where we had multiple communications session per week supporting the All Stellar "toe dip" tests and taking Navigation Camera images. Work has progressed steadily on the flight software patch to fix a multiple thruster firings issue when in All-Stellar mode. This patch will either be sent up to the spacecraft late today or early next week, paving the way to going All-Stellar in the near future.

Boeing management visited JPL and met with project people of missions recently launched by Delta's, including the STARDUST Project. STARDUST had a near-perfect injection aboard a Delta 2 rocket during launch last February, requiring no maneuver to correct injection errors.

For more information on the STARDUST mission - the first ever comet sample return mission - please visit the STARDUST home page: