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Stardust- Comet capsule to produce light show over Western U.S. - Sunday, 1/15 at 157PT
AP on Yahoo ^ | 1/8/06 | Alicia Chang - ap

Posted on 01/08/2006 7:31:40 PM PST by NormsRevenge

LOS ANGELES - When a NASA capsule hauling comet and interstellar dust plummets through the Earth's atmosphere this weekend, residents in large sweeps of the West will witness a cosmic spectacle.

During the Stardust capsule's blazing re-entry at 1:57 a.m. PST Sunday, it will travel at 29,000 mph, making it the fastest man-made object to return to Earth.

The 100-pound cargo will arc over Northern California toward Utah's Dugway Proving Ground, a remote Army base southwest of Salt Lake City.

Residents in parts of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and Utah should see the Stardust capsule as it streaks across the pre-dawn sky. Prime viewing will be along Nevada's Interstate 80 where residents can view the capsule's front.

The capsule's glow is expected to shine as bright as Venus for 90 seconds. It will appear brightest over Carlin, a small mining city in northeast Nevada.

The capsule will likely appear as a bright pink dot to the naked eye. In certain places, those with telescopes may see the capsule pass in front of the moon, appearing as a tiny dot trailed by a dark wave of hot air and debris from its heat shield.

During the capsule's descent, a team of scientists aboard a NASA DC-8 aircraft will track it and measure its brightness.

Part of their mission: Determine how well the capsule's heat shield performed during the plunge. The capsule's heat shield is among several protective material being considered by NASA for its new crew exploration vehicle, which is intended to replace the space shuttle.

After landing, the capsule will be shipped to the Johnson Space Center in Houston where scientists will pry it open and study the microscopic cometary and interstellar samples inside for clues to how the solar system formed.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: California; US: Idaho; US: Montana; US: Nevada; US: Oregon; US: Utah
KEYWORDS: capsule; comet; lightshow; nasa; stardust
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To: Joe Miner

They definitely have lots of biohazard detection etc capabilties there,, purely coincidence. ;-)


21 posted on 01/08/2006 8:08:28 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Monthly Donor spoken Here. Go to ... https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: KevinDavis

Thanks!


22 posted on 01/08/2006 8:09:49 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Monthly Donor spoken Here. Go to ... https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: the-ironically-named-proverbs2
Residents in parts of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Nevada and Utah should see the Stardust capsule as it streaks across the pre-dawn sky.

Great. Seems like the last peculiar spacecraft to traverse the pre-dawn sky was the remnants of Columbia.

23 posted on 01/08/2006 8:16:25 PM PST by Thinkin' Gal (As it was in the days of NO...)
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To: NormsRevenge
hauling comet and interstellar dust plummets through the Earth's atmosphere this weekend

The beginnings of a B rated scifi movie ?
24 posted on 01/08/2006 8:28:47 PM PST by festus (The constitution may be flawed but its a whole lot better than what we have now.)
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To: All



All times in EST.
+ NASA TV on the Web
Stardust pre-return briefing
Jan. 12, 12 p.m.

NASA TV coverage begins
Jan. 15, 4:30 a.m.

Capsule touches down
Jan. 15, 5:12 a.m.

Post-recovery briefing
Jan. 15, 9 a.m.


25 posted on 01/08/2006 8:40:28 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Monthly Donor spoken Here. Go to ... https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: NormsRevenge
Interviewer: Jose, are you convinced that they can get you back to Earth?

Jose Jimenez: I am convinced that they will get me back to Earth!.......Just how far into it....that's what I'm not convinced about.

26 posted on 01/08/2006 8:43:18 PM PST by Reaganesque
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To: Joe Miner; NormsRevenge

Dugway and Utah Test and Training Range is shared air space(UTTR is Air Force).

It was chosen because we have so much land, a big target.

I'll be out on I-80 watching. Have already decided on the perfect viewing area. It is a rest area that overlooks the whole range.

Going to take both digital and film pictures, and will post if anything useable.


27 posted on 01/08/2006 9:21:46 PM PST by Lokibob (Spelling and typos are copyrighted. Please do not use.)
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To: Lokibob

Thanks, here's to clear skies.


28 posted on 01/08/2006 9:26:12 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Monthly Donor spoken Here. Go to ... https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: ItsForTheChildren
Could somebody please pass the Squeeze?


29 posted on 01/09/2006 5:04:31 AM PST by Paradox (Time to sharpen ole Occam's Razor.)
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To: Paradox

Let it be said: "the book was better than the movie".

"Andromeda Strain" MUST have been fiction - the capsule landed safely.


30 posted on 01/09/2006 6:06:50 PM PST by solitas (So what if I support an OS that has fewer flaws than yours? 'Mystic' dual 500 G4's, OSX.4.2)
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To: NormsRevenge
Asteroid Annefrank?

S'funny - it doesn't look... oh, nevermind.

31 posted on 01/09/2006 6:09:41 PM PST by solitas (So what if I support an OS that has fewer flaws than yours? 'Mystic' dual 500 G4's, OSX.4.2)
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To: cabojoe

Can't see it from here? Was going to suggest a meet at Hawes.

Near Jim Grey.


32 posted on 01/09/2006 7:52:25 PM PST by BurbankKarl
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To: BurbankKarl; Lokibob

Down here in San Diego it would be probably 1 degree over my NW horizon. I can't even see satellites if they are less than 45 degrees to the NW because of the city lights. I'm hoping Lokibob will get us some pics.


33 posted on 01/09/2006 7:57:36 PM PST by cabojoe
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To: cabojoe; BurbankKarl
Weatherwise, way to early to make forecasts. weather.gov only extends to Friday night.

A great place to watch would be Wendover, Nevada, right on the state line and on the edge of the UTTR. The capsule should go directly overhead.

Unfortunately, it is a holiday weekend, and room rates will be in the $100/night range Sunday night. A normal weekend Sunday night would be $19.95 dinner included.
34 posted on 01/10/2006 2:40:08 AM PST by Lokibob (Spelling and typos are copyrighted. Please do not use.)
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To: Lokibob; cabojoe; All
NASA's Stardust Sample Return Capsule and Entry Path Visible in Northwest

Figure 1 - Stardust Rentry Overview Map


Figure 2 - Stardust Rentry Overview Map #2

35 posted on 01/11/2006 10:21:47 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Monthly Donor spoken Here. Go to ... https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: All

Mission Control Center Status Update


http://spaceflightnow.com/stardust/status.html

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2006

With its precious cargo of comet bits nestled inside, NASA's Stardust spacecraft is soaring inbound for Sunday's fiery descent and landing in Utah that will cap a 2.88-billion mile voyage spanning 7 years of looping around the solar system.

The armored space probe raced past Comet Wild 2 in January 2004, catching particles with its racquet-shaped collector. Comets are considered ancient relics serving as frozen time capsules that hold the chemical records from a time billions of years ago when the planets were forming.

The samples were stowed in a protective capsule that will separate from the spacecraft and return to Earth to the delight of anxious scientists.

"Comets are some of the most informative occupants of the solar system," said Dr. Mary Cleave, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

"Locked within the cometary particles is unique chemical and physical information that could be the record of the formation of the planets and the materials from which they were made," added Dr. Don Brownlee, Stardust principal investigator at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Stardust is scheduled to conduct its final course-correcting maneuver at 11:53 p.m. EST Friday to tweak the flight path for Earth. The craft must be aimed precisely when it deploys the powerless descent capsule at 12:57 a.m. EST Sunday. The capsule has no means of propulsion and relies solely on the mothership firing it in the proper direction to enter the atmosphere a few hours later.

The separation happens 68,805 miles from Earth. Two cable cutters sever the umbilicals connecting the capsule and mothership, then three bolts break apart. A mechanism gives the capsule a push away while imparting a 14 to 16 revolution per minute spin. That spin is designed to help keep the capsule's orientation stablized during its free flight.

The mothership performs a divert maneuver about 15 minutes after the separation event to continue flying in orbit around the Sun. Scientists are looking at ways of reusing the instrument-laden craft for future missions.

The sample return capsule enters Earth's atmosphere with a velocity of 28,860 miles per hour, making it the fastest of any human-made object. It will surpass the record set in May 1969 during the return of the Apollo 10 command module of 24,861 mph.

The point of atmospheric entry occurs around 4:57 a.m. EST at about 78 miles (400,000 feet) over northwestern California -- 12 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean and 14 miles south of the Oregon-California border -- about 551 miles uprange from the landing zone.

The region of maximum heating on the capsule's thermal shield happens 52 seconds into the re-entry at an altitude of 38 miles. The heat shield will feel an amazingly intense temperature of 4,900 degrees F.

About 62 seconds into the atmospheric descent, peak deceleration occurs at 38 times the force of gravity.

The deceleration will decrease to 3 G's at entry plus one minute and 56 seconds, triggering an onboard timer. The capsule's avionics then issue the command for firing the mortar to deploy the drogue parachute at entry plus two minutes and 12 seconds. The capsule will be traveling at mach 1.4 and 20 miles overhead the landing area when the drogue chute is unfurled.

Just three minutes after slamming into the atmosphere, the falling capsule will be 15 miles above the ground and making a vertical descent.

The capsule moves within controlled airspace a minute later when it is 11 miles up.

The main parachute is deployed nearly two miles over the landing zone at 5:05 a.m. EST. This is done by cutting one of the lines holding the drogue chute, which pulls out the main chute.

The main chute's bridle holds a UHF locator beacon that is activated at deploy to assist ground teams in locating the capsule.

The 10 mile per hour touchdown at the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and Training Range, southwest of Salt Lake City, is expected at 5:12 a.m. EST. The landing area is 27 by 47 miles.

"There's a lot at stake. You just hope everything works, and I am confident it will work," said Brownlee.

"But the really big part of the research is just getting ready to start, when the material goes to the laboratory. The train is headed for the station and we're all waiting for it."

Recovery crews will move the 95-pound capsule via helicopter to the U.S. Army Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, for initial processing. The comet samples then head to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for curation.

Scientists say tens of thousands of comet grains have been snared by the spacecraft's collector. Stardust flew by Comet Wild 2 on January 2, 2004, passing only 149 miles at closest approach.

The backside of the collector was used earlier in the Stardust mission, which launched atop a Boeing Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral in February 1999, to pick up about 100 bits of interstellar dust grains streaming from other stars in the galaxy.

The collector used an exotic material, called aerogel, to trap the cometary particles -- impacting at speeds over five times that of a rifle bullet -- without damaging the cargo for scientists to analyze on Earth. Aerogel is 99.9 percent air and 0.1 percent silica dioxide. One thousand times less dense than glass, aerogel is like "solid smoke."

The Comet Wild 2 (pronounced Vilt 2) was discovered in 1978. Its solar orbit extended from Jupiter to beyond Uranus before 1974. But then, Jupiter's gravity altered Wild 2's course, bringing it just beyond the orbit of Mars. It now orbits the Sun once every 6.39 years.

Since Wild 2 only recently began orbiting close to the Sun, scientists believe our star's heat hasn't had enough time to damage the frozen evidence preserved inside the comet for billions of years while lurking in deep space.

"Virtually all the atoms in our bodies were in little grains like the ones we're bringing back from the comet, before the earth and sun were formed," Brownlee said. "Those grains carry elements like carbon, nitrogen and silicon from one place to another within our galaxy, and they helped form the sun, the planets and their moons."

Watch this page for live updates on Sunday morning.


36 posted on 01/12/2006 7:35:21 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... Monthly Donor spoken Here. Go to ... https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: All

SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 2006
1830 GMT (1:30 p.m. EST)

The Stardust spacecraft is now closer to Earth than the moon. The probe crossed the moon's orbit about an hour ago.

It took Apollo astronauts three days to make the comparable 249,000-mile trek but Stardust's comet sample capsule will do it in just 16 hours and 27 minutes.

"Our entire flight and recovery team will be watching this final leg of our flight with tremendous expectation as we implement a precise celestial ballet in delivering our capsule to Earth," said Stardust Project Manager Tom Duxbury of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "We feel like parents awaiting the return of a child who left us young and innocent, who now returns holding answers to the most profound questions of our solar system."

The final trajectory maneuver was completed by Stardust at 11:53 p.m. EST last night to align the flight path for the landing zone on the Utah Test and Training Range. The engine burn lasted 58.5 seconds and changed the spacecraft's velocity by 2.9 mph. At the time of the burn the spacecraft was about 439,000 miles from Earth, NASA officials said.


37 posted on 01/14/2006 1:01:43 PM PST by cabojoe
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To: NormsRevenge; cabojoe; glock rocks; Pete-R-Bilt; forester; editor-surveyor
That EST threw me a curve for a bit but then I had another drink and it came to me. I have my alarm set for 1:40. Then I will dress and step out in my front yard and look NNW toward Crescent City.

It's popcorn rain cells at this time but there may be enough clearing here in Eureka to see something. I'll be looking up about 45 degrees. I'll have my binoculars but from my experience watching a shuttle reentry over Marin County a few years ago there will be no time to find and focus.

If Glock watches it will be coming right at him in SLC...
38 posted on 01/14/2006 8:03:43 PM PST by tubebender (Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else...)
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To: tubebender

More here... http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/viewingforum.html


39 posted on 01/14/2006 8:07:46 PM PST by tubebender (Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else...)
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To: tubebender

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/TROP/DATA/RT/nepac-ir4-loop.html

Looks like you might get some clearing, good luck!


40 posted on 01/14/2006 8:07:57 PM PST by cabojoe
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