NASA Spacecraft to Rendezvous with Comet

by Alex A. Kecskes

Scientists are eagerly looking forward to receiving return signals from a deep space wanderer called Stardust-NextT. The NASA spacecraft is scheduled to take high-resolution images of the comet known as Temple 1. The goal will be to measure the composition, distribution, and flux of dust emitted into the material surrounding the comet's nucleus.

Continuing NASA's Deep Impact mission--which, began in July 2005 when a Deep Impact spacecraft slammed into Tempel 1--the Stardust spacecraft hopes to capture an image of the crater left by the earlier impact. Space scientists hope to learn more about comets, including how they work and how they were put together four-and-a-half billion years ago.

When Stardust-NExT encounters Tempel 1, it will be 209 million miles from Earth and virtually on the opposite side of the solar system. During the flyby, the spacecraft will take 72 images and send them to Earth for processing on February 15, 2011.

Since 2007, Stardust-NExT executed eight flight path correction maneuvers, took four trips around the sun and used one Earth gravity assist to meet up with Tempel 1. Three more maneuvers will be needed to refine the spacecraft's path to the comet. It should fly past the nearly 3.7 mile-wide comet, coming as close as 124 miles. After 12 years of space travel covering almost 3.7 billion miles, Stardust-NExT is nearly out of fuel.

For an additional perspective, check out this video: