Stardust
NASA
Caught dust from comet Wild 2 and brought it back to Earth in 2006, then flew on to comet Tempel 1.
Open in 3DThe flight
February 7, 1999
Launch
January 15, 2001
Flies past Earth, 12,389 km away
January 16, 2001
Flies past Moon, 97,796 km away
January 15, 2006
Flies past Earth, 6,629 km away
January 14, 2009
Flies past Earth, 15,505 km away
March 12, 2011
JPL’s track of it ends
From the trajectory NASA JPL Horizons publishes for it.
Stardust (spacecraft)
NASA sample-return mission to Comet 81P/Wild 2 (1999–2011)
Stardust was a 385-kilogram robotic space probe launched by NASA on 7 February 1999. Its primary mission was to collect dust samples from the coma of comet Wild 2, as well as samples of cosmic dust, and return them to Earth for analysis. It was the first sample return mission of its kind. En route to Comet Wild 2, it also flew by and studied the asteroid 5535 Annefrank.
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Facts
- What it is
- Sample return
- Agency
- NASA