NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  1. Content with the tag: “stardust

  2. Research Activities in the Astrobiology Analytical Laboratory

    ROADMAP OBJECTIVES: 1.1, 2.1, 2.2, 3.1, 7.1
  3. Marco Polo and Meteorites


    Asteroids and comets have been a major focus of recent NASA missions. From Deep Impact to Stardust, and the current Dawn mission, astrobiologists have been examining these fascinating celestial bodies in order to understand the role they may have played in the origin of life on our planet. These rocks in space are also ancient records from a time when our solar system was being born. The wealth of scientific information that can be gleaned from asteroids has also sparked interest from space agencies outside of the United States....

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    Source: [Astrobiology Magazine]

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  4. Comet Dust Reveals Unexpected Mixing of Solar System Material


    Researchers from NAI’s University of Wisconsin, Madison Team are also involved the analysis of comet samples returned from NASA’s Stardust mission.

    A new analysis of dust from the comet Wild 2, collected in 2004 by Stardust, has revealed an oxygen isotope signature that suggests an unexpected mingling of rocky material between the center and edges of the solar system. Wisconsin Astrobiololgy Research Consortium (WARC) researchers and their collaborators analyzed oxygen isotopes in crystals of olivine and pyroxene from the comet’s halo. These samples, which reached Earth in early...

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    Source: [Link]

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  5. Stardust Sample Analysis


    A special issue of Science (Dec 15) includes several papers reporting on various aspects of Stardust sample analysis including an organics survey, isotopic and elemental compositions, mineralogy and petrology, and infrared spectroscopy. Many NAI researchers contributed to this comprehensive analytical campaign, including members of NAI’s Teams at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, NASA’s Ames Research Center and Goddard Space Flight Center, and NAI’s Alumni Team at the University of Washington.

    Source: [Link]

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  6. Astrobiology and Stardust


    Carl Sagan once said “We are all star stuff.” But how? What does that really mean? One of the fundamental questions of astrobiology, how does life originate and evolve?, provides a structure in which to examine the relationship between life and the cosmos. Everywhere life has been found on Earth, which is essentially every place in which it has been sought, life’s intimate connection with water has also been found. Within the framework of contemplating life’s cosmic origins, one must also ask about the history of water on Earth. NASA’s Stardust mission has provided the opportunity for astrobiologists to gain deeper insight into this history.

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  7. Hot Rocks from Comet Wild 2


    Scientists are finding surprises from analyzing tiny particles of comet dust collected by the Stardust spacecraft and returned to Earth 8 weeks ago. They had expected mostly “primitive” particles that had condensed under cool conditions in the solar nebula and been preserved in the deep freeze of space. However, some of the comet dust is made of minerals that can only be formed at high temperatures — either close to the Sun or perhaps in other planetary systems that existed before the solar system formed. NAI scientist Don Browlee reports that “In the coldest part of the solar system,...

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    Source: [Link]

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  8. Chance to View Stardust Return


    NASA’s Stardust mission is nearing Earth after a four billion kilometer round-trip journey to bring back comet dust samples. Viewers in California, Oregon, and Nevada have a chance to see the fiery entry of the return capsule into Earth’s atmosphere in the early morning of Sunday January 15 (approximately 2 a.m. PST, 3 a.m. MST).

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