Astrobiology: Life in the Universe

Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets (ASTEP)


  1. Seminar Detail

    The Stardust Discovery Mission - Returning Unique Samples of Early Solar System Organics

    The Stardust Discovery Mission - Returning Unique Samples of Early Solar System Organics

    Presenter: Scott Sandford

    April 24, 2006 11:00 AM Pacific

    On January 2, 2004, the STARDUST spacecraft made the closest ever flyby (236 km) of the nucleus of a comet - Comet Wild 2. During the flyby the spacecraft collected samples of dust from the coma of the comet. These samples were successfully returned to Earth on January 15, 2006. After a six-month preliminary examination to establish the nature of the returned samples, they will be made available to the general scientific community for study.



    During my talk I will discuss the scientific goals of the STARDUST mission and provide a brief overview of the mission’s design and flight. I will also discuss the recovery of the Stardust Sample Return Capsule (SRC), with an emphasis on those aspects of the recovery important for minimizing the degree of contamination (particularly organic contamination) of the samples. Finally, the first samples are only just now being distributed for preliminary examination, but I hope to be able to talk about some of the preliminary findings from the returned comet samples.

    Participation Instructions

    With a Polycom....RSVP to Estelle Dodson (kdodson@mail.arc.nasa.gov) and connect to WebEx as instructed below. If you need Polycom help during the live event, call the videoconferencing help-desk at (650) 604-6412

    The slides from the seminar can be accessed real-time using WebEx at:

    https://nasa.webex.com

    Enter the meeting number: 921 815 470

    Hit the "join now" button.

    Enter your name or site name (this is not an assigned log-in name, please use your institution name or your first and last name), email and the password: 1K*Falcon (case sensitive)

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    Without a Polycom...There are two ways to participate:

    1) You can listen to the seminar on the telephone while viewing the slides in WebEx (see WebEx instructions above). The NASA conference phone number for this is (877) 891-6023, passcode 381880.

    2) You can watch the Realplayer webcast at: http://vanseg-1.arc.nasa.gov/2006/AB060424-01.ram and view the slides in WebEx (see WebEx instructions above) There is a 30 second delay for the webcast, so you will need to control the slides manually using the arrow buttons in WebEx. Questions for the speaker can be posted in the WebEx chat area to be answered at the end of the talk. Do not try to watch the Realplayer webcast at the same time as the Polycom or the phone. Due to the delay in the webcast, it will sound awful, unless you like dissonance.


    Click here to view Podcast

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