Stardust-NExT (Stardust-New Exploration of Tempel) is an extended mission that utilizes the already "in flight" Stardust spacecraft to fly by comet temple 1 in Feb. 2011 and extend the investigation of that comet by the Deep impact mission. Note - while the mission name has been changed to Stardust-NExT the spacecraft will continue to be referred to as "Stardust."
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages Stardust-NExT for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Cornell University, New Jersey is home to the mission's principal investigator, Joe Veverka. The spacecraft was built for NASA by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Littleton, Colo.
Mass: 385 kilograms (848 pounds) total, consisting of 254-kilogram (560-pound) spacecraft plus 20 kilograms (44 pounds) fuel
Science-related subsystems: comet and interstellar dust analyzer, dust flux monitor, navigation
Launch: February 7, 1999
Stardust Logs A Decade Under The Stars (2/6/09)
Stardust Spacecraft Passes Close to Earth (1/14/09)
NASA Stardust Capsule to Go on Display at Smithsonian (9/25/08)
Stardust-Next Burns for Comet Flyby (6/25/08)
Stardust Stars on Earth as it Does in the Heavens (4/3/08)
Stardust Comet Dust Resembles Asteroid Materials (1/25/08)
