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Stardust Part II, Deep Impact Revisited?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the expensive-crash-test-dummy dept.

oneill40 writes to tell us New Scientist is reporting that NASA's Stardust spacecraft may be gearing up for another run. Stardust recently made the news by returning samples from the comet Wild 2 and is being looked at to pick up where the Deep Impact mission left off. From the article: "In addition to revealing the comet's interior composition, studies of the crater should shed light on the comet's structure and density. "If the impactor hit something that was very hard, it would produce a smaller crater than if it hit something very soft," Veverka told New Scientist."

6 of 22 comments (clear)

  1. Stardust Part II, Deep Impact Revisited by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2, Funny
    Stardust Part II, Deep Impact Revisited

    Wasn't that just on Cinemax?

  2. Good use of resources... by all204 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This seems to me like a good way to get some usefull science on the cheap. (Mind you 30 million is not all that cheap.) I always thought that just leaving a satellite like that just to 'drift' after all is said done, if it was still operational, was a waste.

    1. Re:Good use of resources... by Chris+Burke · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, according to TFA it sounds like multiple missions aren't in the cards, since it only flew by earth to drop the sample. It apparently has enough fuel for this new mission, but probably not for others.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
    2. Re:Good use of resources... by iamlucky13 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I was skeptical that they'd find anything interesting to do with Stardust when they first announced they were looking for proposals, but I'm pleasantly surprised.

      Additionally, the original sample return may also have been captured some extra-solar particles in the aerogel collector on Stardust. Scientists expect to be able to identify these based on how deeply embedded they are (ie, velocity with which they struck the collector). Some of you may recall the Genesis project was supposed to collect particles from our sun's wind. Unfortunately, due to an engineering error, it crashed landed, breaking it's seal and tainting the samples. Extrasolar particles would likely have some similarity to what our own sun kicks out. All this together makes Stardust a fascinating mission.

      Interesting bit from the article:

      That Earth flyby will put it on course to reach Tempel 1 on 14 February 2011, when the crater produced by Deep Impact will be oriented towards the spacecraft.

      I'm wondering how confident they are which way the comet will be oriented. Isn't it possible that evaporation/ejection of material from its surface can affect the rotation significantly enough to mess up long term orientation predictions?

  3. Waiting and Service Life by necro81 · · Score: 3, Informative

    The article states that the extended mission would go down like this: the Stardust mothership is in a solar orbit. In 2007 it could fire its thrusters to head back towards earth by early 2009. A gravity assist from earth could fling it out to comet Tempel 1 for a 2011 rendezvous.

    It'd be awesome if they can pull it off, and pretty cheap as such missions go (since the craft is already built and in space). However, I have to wonder, will the spacecraft still be in working order come 2011? I don't think it was designed to have much of a mission life once it had sent away the sample return. Anyone know?

    1. Re:Waiting and Service Life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      However, I have to wonder, will the spacecraft still be in working order come 2011? I don't think it was designed to have much of a mission life once it had sent away the sample return. Anyone know?

      The consumables (ie propellant) and solar arrays, along with the pointing system for the high gain antennas are more the drivers for lifespan. As long as those are OK, you'll likely have a usable spacecraft.