Stardust (spacecraft)

*Stardust*
	Artist's impression of Stardust at Comet Wild 2
Names	Discovery 4; Stardust-NExT
Mission type	Sample return
Operator	NASA / JPL
COSPAR ID	1999-003A
SATCAT no.	25618
Website	stardust.jpl.nasa.gov; stardustnext.jpl.nasa.gov
Mission duration	Stardust: 6 years, 11 months, 7 days; NExT: 4 years, 2 months, 7 days; Total: 9 years, 1 month, 17 days
Spacecraft properties
Bus	SpaceProbe
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin; University of Washington
Launch mass	385 kg
Dry mass	305.397 kg (673 lb)
Dimensions	Bus: 1.71 × 0.66 × 0.66 m; (5.6 × 2.16 × 2.16 ft)
Power	330 W (Solar array / NiH2 batteries)
Start of mission
Launch date	7 February 1999, 21:04:15.238 UTC
Rocket	Delta II 7426-9.5 #266
Launch site	Cape Canaveral SLC-17
Contractor	Lockheed Martin Space Systems
End of mission
Disposal	Decommissioned
Deactivated	Spacecraft: 24 March 2011, 23:33 UTC
Landing date	Capsule: 15 January 2006, 10:12 UTC
Landing site	Utah Test and Training Range; 40°21.9′N 113°31.3′W / 40.3650°N 113.5217°W
Flyby of Earth
Closest approach	15 January 2001, 11:14:28 UTC
Distance	6,008 km (3,733 mi)
Flyby of asteroid 5535 Annefrank
Closest approach	2 November 2002, 04:50:20 UTC
Distance	3,079 km (1,913 mi)
Flyby of periodic comet Wild 2
Closest approach	2 January 2004, 19:21:28 UTC
Distance	237 km (147 mi)
Flyby of Earth (Sample return)
Closest approach	15 January 2006
Flyby of Earth
Closest approach	14 January 2009, 12:33 UTC
Distance	9,157 km (5,690 mi)
Flyby of Comet Tempel 1
Closest approach	15 February 2011, 04:39:10 UTC
Distance	181 km (112 mi)
CIDA
Instruments
CIDA	Comet and Interstellar Dust Analyzer
DFMI	Dust Flux Monitor Instrument
SSC	Stardust Sample Collection
DSE	Dynamic Science Experiment
NavCam	Navigation Camera
	Discovery program ← Lunar Prospector Genesis →

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. The primary mission was successfully completed on 15 January 2006 when the sample return capsule returned to Earth.^[10]

A mission extension, codenamed NExT, culminated in February 2011 with Stardust intercepting Comet Tempel 1, a small Solar System body previously visited by Deep Impact in 2005. Stardust ceased operations in March 2011.

On 14 August 2014, scientists announced the identification of possible interstellar dust particles from the Stardust capsule returned to Earth in 2006.^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14]

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