NASA Sweeps Up 21
corleth writes "The BBC reports that a NASA spacecraft has begun its second phase of collecting interstellar dust grains to be returned to Earth in 2006 for analysis. In 2004, Stardust will rendezvous with comet Wild 2 to collect gas and dust. This will make it the first mission since the Apollo programme to collect and return materials from an extra-terrestrial body. The JPL press release can be found here." The Aerogel that they're using is nifty stuff.
Re:Aerogel (Score:1)
Re:Not at all (Score:2)
Anyway, Gelatin doesn't come primarily from Horse Hooves. It is is made from the boiled bones, skins and tendons of animals [ivu.org], which is produced anyway by the meat industry as a byproduct. Get your facts straight before you start ranting.
Re:Not at all (Score:1)
Re:Not at all (Score:2)
Re:Aerogel (Score:2)
Questions (Score:4, Interesting)
2) The spacecraft looks like it's almost halfway between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Has there been anything send further from Earth and returned safely? I'd think that the parts of the spacecraft that return should have a place in the Smithsonian.
Re:Questions (Score:1)
No. I'm not sure, but I think that record is currently set by the Apollo missions.
I'd think that the parts of the spacecraft that return should have a place in the Smithsonian.
Agreed.
-Karl
P.S. I'm afraid I can't help with the battery problem question. I wasn't following the mission at the time. I can't find any reference to it on the website.
Re:Questions (Score:1)
Too late at night for reasearch on that right now, but if you count radiowaves, they might have bounced some back from objects more distant.
oh!!! (Score:1)
Interstellar? (Score:1)
Re:Interstellar? (Score:2)
Re:Interstellar? (Score:1)
Re:Interstellar? (Score:2)
Re:Interstellar? (Score:1)
Interstellar, in this case, means from materials that were not involved in the formation of this solar system, i.e. either from another solar system or from whatever background materials accreted to form the various stellar systems in this part of the galaxy.
Regarding the "border of our solar system", that is probably more a matter of opinion that anything else. Personally I tend to think of it as being the limit of the sun's gravitational well. In other words, if an object is placed at a position with no net momentum (I know, a classical concept) it will tend to accelerate towards our sun if it's within our solar system. In reality, definitions of borders in space is largely futile.
-Karl
LA (Score:2)