Stardust (Discovery 4)

USA

International Sat. nº:

USA satellite nº:

Launch data:

Designation	25618 / 99003A
Launch date	07 Feb 1999 - 21:04:15 UT
Launch site	CC, LC-17A
Launch vehicle	Delta-7426-9.5 (#D266)
Mission	Comet flyby
Heliocentric orbit
Perihelion / Aphelion
Incl. to ecliptic	°
Period	min

Spacecraft data:

Prime contractor	Lockheed Martin Astronautics/Denver
Operator	NASA/ JPL
Platform	Space Probe
Mass at launch	340 kg
Dry Mass	385(?) kg
Basic shape	Box + 2 panels
Dimension	1.7 long - 0.7 max dia
Solar array
Stabilization
DC power
Design lifetime	Indefinite

Decay:

Stardust Sample Return capsule:

Recovery date SRC:	15 Jan 2007 - 10:10 UT
Lifetime:	6.9 years

Description:

Stardust is the fourth mission in the Discovery program, Stardust will fly 100 km from comet 81P/Wild-2 in Jan 2004 and recover cometary material using an aerogel substance. The encounter will take place 1.9 AU from the Sun. Stardust will also collect some material from the interplanetary medium. A return capsule would land on a lake bed in Utah in Jan 2006. Stardust uses Denver's Space Probe bus with a return vehicle, the Sample Reentry Capsule (SRC). The SRC is passive, and the Stardust bus orients it for entry before separating. The navigation camera is a Voyager spare.
The Discovery missions are:

   NEAR               En route to rendezvous with (433) Eros
   Mars Pathfinder    Landed near Ares Vallis, Mars
   Lunar Prospector   In low lunar polar orbit
   Stardust           En route to 81P/Wild-2
   Genesis            Launch to L1 due 2001
   Contour            Launch 2002 to flyby several comets

Mission details:

The Stardust probe was launched from Cape Canaveral on Feb 7, 1999 at 2104 UTC. Launch vehicle was a Boeing Delta 7426. Four GEM-40 solid boosters separated one minute after launch. First stage separation at 2108 UTC was followed by the second stage's first burn, placing the stack in a 185 x 185 km x 28 deg parking orbit at 2114 UTC. The second stage restarted at 2125 to change the orbit to approximately 178 x 7184 km x 28.5 deg (planned). This was followed by third stage burn at 2129 UTC and spacecraft separation at 2131 UTC. After its depletion burn, the Delta 266 second stage was left in a 294 x 6818 km x 22.5 deg orbit. The Star 37FM third stage entered solar orbit and separated from the Stardust probe. Stardust's orbit has a 2 year period. This is the second Delta launch using the Star 37FM lightweight third stage; the first was Deep Space 1.
The Stardust probe flew past Earth at a distance of 6012 km at 1115 UTC on Jan 15, 2001 and flew near the Moon at a distance of 98000 km at around 0200 UTC on Jan 16. The gravity assist flyby changes Stardust's heliocentric orbit from 0.956 x 2.216 AU x 0.0 deg to 0.983 x 2.285 AU x 3.7 deg.
On November 2, 2002, the Stardust space probe flew past Annefrank at a distance of 3079 km. Its images show the asteroid to be 6.6 × 5.0 × 3.4 km, twice as big as previously though.
The Stardust space probe flew 230 km from the nucleus of comet 81P/Wild-2 at 1922 UTC on Jan 2, 2004. Stardust collected cometary material using aerogel dust collectors, and will return the material to the Earth in 2006. The flyby was at a relative velocity of 6.1 km/s; light time to Earth was 21m 40s.
The Stardust probe landed successfully on Jan 15, 2007 in the highest velocity re-entry ever. The capsule has now been opened and mission scientists report that it contains plenty of samples of comet 81P/Wild 2.
Stardust approached Earth from a 0.98 x 2.68 AU x 3.6 deg solar orbit. Passing the Moon on Jan 14, 2007 at 18:30 UTC, Stardust approached the Earth on a 22 km perigee, 42.1 deg hyperbolic orbit. The SRC (Sample Return Capsule) was ejected at 05:57 UTC on Jan 15. At 06:13 UTC Stardust fired its engines to raise perigee to 258 km, and swung past the Earth at 10:00 UTC, passing lunar orbit outbound at 01:30 UTC on Jan 16. The Stardust bus will leaving the Earth-Moon system on Jan 17, 2007 into a 0.92 x 1.70 AU x 1.9 deg orbit.
Meanwhile, the SRC reached 125 km altitude at 09:57 UTC on Jan 15, travelling almost horizontally (a flight path angle of -8.2 degrees) at 12.9 km/s. It deployed its main parachute at 10:04 UTC and landed at 10:10 UTC in the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR).
This is the second spacecraft recovery from beyond lunar orbit; the first was Genesis, which landed on 2004 Sep 8, also in the UTTR.
Sample Return Capsule (28927 / 99003D)
On Jan 1, 2010 Stardust is in a 0.97 x 1.73 AU x 8.5 deg orbit and will pass comet P/Tempel 1 in Feb 2011.
The Stardust space probe changed its orbit slightly on Feb 17, 2010 decreasing its perihelion by 75000 km to target a flyby of comet 9P/Tempel-1 at 04:39 UTC on Feb 15, 2011. Stardust is now in a 0.971 x 1.728 AU x 8.5 deg solar orbit and is currently in the paramartian region in the (heliocentric) direction of Pisces.
The Stardust probe was switched off on Mar 24, 2011 following its recent flyby of comet 9P/Tempel 1.

Ref.: #7(JR388,444,517,560,621,624,640,706), #14, #81, #98, #206 - update: 22.01.15 Home