Originally published February 19 2006
Comet dust sample gives scientists cause for excitement
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Donald Brownlee of the University of Washington talks about the highly anticipated sample of comet dust that will be released from NASA's Stardust spacecraft into earth's atmosphere in a special capsule, which scientists will spend years closely analyzing.
The capsule will enter Earth's atmosphere at 28,860 mph -- the fastest reentry in spacecraft history.
Its sample compartments are filled with an ultra-frothy spun glass called aerogel, which has caught, and contains, thousands of particles of comet dust, virtually all of them considerably less than the width of a human hair.
Even though all the captured material would easily fit in a teaspoon, the samples are "more than we can analyze in a decade" with the available high-precision scientific instruments, said project lead scientist Donald Brownlee of the University of Washington.
Besides what Stardust may reveal about cosmic origins, this effort is the latest in a distinguished series of unusual missions to smaller celestial bodies.
Last year, NASA's Deep Impact dropped a projectile in the path of comet Tempel 1, setting up a spectacular Independence Day collision.
Deep Impact returned spectacular images of the projectile impact and a river of data from the resulting debris plume, but mechanical problems have hampered Hayabusa to such a degree that project managers were forced to delay its trip home until 2007.
The probe lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Feb. 7, 1999, "parked" in a holding orbit 115 miles above Earth for half an hour, then ignited its upper-stage rocket to escape Earth's gravity.
Its target, Wild 2, is a comet that originated beyond Pluto and migrated to the inner solar system after receiving a gravity push from Jupiter in 1974.
Stardust carried a two-sided, tennis-racket-shaped particle collector with about 100 small aerogel-filled compartments, "like a giant ice cube tray," Brownlee said.
On each of Stardust's first two orbits, engineers deployed one side of the collector to catch interstellar dust, composed of tiny grains of material from beyond the solar system.
Scientists can use these grains to study the composition of the stars where the particles originated.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml