Stardust Comet Sample-Return Spacecraft
NASA Stardust was a comet and interstellar dust sample-return spacecraft that collected particles in aerogel during its 2004 encounter with comet 81P/Wild 2, returned the sample capsule to Earth in 2006, and was retasked as Stardust-NExT for a 15 February 2011 flyby of comet 9P/Tempel 1.
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Identity
- Aliases
- StardustSTARDUSTStardust-NExTStardust NExTStardust spacecraftStardust comet sample-return spacecraftNew Exploration of Tempel 1
- Family Name
- Stardust
- Full Name
- Stardust Comet Sample-Return Spacecraft
- Roles
- sample_returninterplanetary_probeflybyresearch
- Status
- retired
- Type
- spacecraft
Details
- Description
- NASA Stardust was a comet and interstellar dust sample-return spacecraft that collected particles in aerogel during its 2004 encounter with comet 81P/Wild 2, returned the sample capsule to Earth in 2006, and was retasked as Stardust-NExT for a 15 February 2011 flyby of comet 9P/Tempel 1.
- First Flight Year
- 1,999
- Last Flight Year
- 2,011
- Manufacturer
- Operator
- Spacecraft Specs
- Launch Mass
- …
- Reusability
- expendable
Links
- Official Url
- https://science.nasa.gov/mission/stardust/
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- August 12, 2026 at 17:47:07 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 15, 2026 at 11:06:40 UTC