A capsule filled with comet dust successfully landed on Earth at 4:57 PM (Hanoi time) on January 15. This landing occurred after the capsule separated from its mother ship, Stardust, earlier this morning, concluding a journey of 7 years covering 4.64 billion kilometers.
A Spectacular Landing
The 45-kilogram capsule landed at a U.S. Air Force base in the Utah desert, amidst cheers from scientists. With this success, the Stardust mission will allow scientists to study comet samples for the first time. This marks the first collection and return of extraterrestrial solid materials to Earth since 1972.
At 12:56 PM (Hanoi time), Stardust severed the cables connecting it to the landing capsule while flying past Earth. A minute later, springs on Stardust pushed the landing capsule away from the ship. Stardust then continued to fly away from Earth.
About four hours later, the landing capsule plunged into Earth’s atmosphere at a speed of 46,440 km/h – the fastest speed of any man-made object. Residents in Northern California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, and Nevada were able to see this landing if weather conditions were favorable.
It is reported that the capsule’s parachute was deployed at an altitude of 3 kilometers above the ground. Immediately after landing, the capsule was located by helicopters or ground vehicles. The samples will be airlifted to the Johnson Space Center in Houston early next week.
The Stardust Mission
The Stardust mission began in 1999. It orbited the Sun three times and halfway to Jupiter captured particles from comet Wild 1 in January 2004. To collect the dust particles, Stardust used a panel shaped like a tennis racket.
This panel contained numerous pits the size of pebbles and was lined with a porous material known as aerogel. Aerogel is made of pure silicon dioxide and consists of 99.8% air, effectively trapping dust particles without altering them.
After collecting the dust, the panel folded down into a scoop-like pouch and remained in that position on Stardust during its return journey to Earth. Experts expect that these dust particles will be only 1/10 the diameter of a human hair.
Scientists believe that comets are remnants from the formation of planets. They hope that the dust collected by Stardust will provide clues about the origins of the solar system, dating back 4.5 billion years.
In 2004, the Genesis spacecraft, carrying solar ions, crashed to Earth when its parachute failed to deploy. Following the Genesis accident and the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the ground control team spent six months reviewing and testing Stardust’s design to ensure that no faults were present.
Minh Sơn
