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past feature
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Comet Fly-By
NASA's Stardust
probe flew to within 3300 kms of comet
Annefrank on November 2nd with a
sophisticated mass spectrometer
onboard.
The spacecraft has passed the asteroid,
named after Jewish teenager Anne Frank
whose famous diaries recorded Germany's
occupation in wartime Amsterdam, in deep
space in a final test of the instruments
that will analyze dust from a comet's tail
in 2004. The fly-by successfully tested
the spacecraft's comet-tracking system,
its communications links and onboard mass
spectrometer.
Stardust will perform its main task in
January 2004 when it will fly to within
100 kms of another comet known as Wild 2.
It will attempt to capture dust from this
comet's tail and should then return to
Earth with the first ever comet samples in
2006. The samples should provide
information on how our solar system
evolved and the planets formed. The probe
should also capture images of a comet.
During the test, the spacecraft's mass
spectrometer was activated. Thcomet uses
an aerogel to capture the dust particles
that will be analyzed by the mass
spectrometer.
Full details appear at the NASA web
site.
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