Details of the timing of live coverage of Stardust-NEXTS encounter with comet Temple1

clln

14/15th Feb,times below are GMT-8.

-- 8:30 to 10 p.m., Feb. 14: Live NASA TV commentary begins from mission control; includes coverage of closest approach and the re-establishment of contact with the spacecraft following the encounter.

-- Midnight to 1:30 a.m., Feb. 15: NASA TV commentary will chronicle the arrival and processing of the first five of 72 close-approach images the team expects to be downlinked after the encounter. The images are expected to include a close-up view of the comet's surface.

-- 10 a.m., Feb. 15: News briefing

alternative:

-- Commentary and the news conference will also be carried live on one of JPL's Ustream channels. During events, viewers can engage in a real-time chat and submit questions to the Stardust-NExT team at: http://www.ustream.tv/user/NASAJPL2

On January 15, 2006, the Stardust spacecraft completed one history-making mission and began another. Returning from a rendezvous with Comet Wild 2, the spacecraft approached Earth and jettisoned the capsule containing particles collected directly from the comet, as well as interstellar dust medium. The capsule landed safely and on-target southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah, completing the world's first sample return from a comet.

Now this spacecraft is on a new record-setting mission: a visit to Comet Tempel 1. Comet Tempel 1 was the comet previously targeted by the Deep Impact mission, making Stardust-NExT the first-ever follow-up mission to a comet

so like epoxi and WISE JPL have once again found a way to extend a mission long past its design life,there was no plan before its launch to visit Temple 1 at all!
they estimate it now has 3% of the fuel it had when it began its journey so this is definatly the little spacecrafts last hurrah!

clln

To while away the hours can you get five out of five?

Here are five facts you should know about NASA's Stardust-NExT spacecraft as it prepares for a Valentine's "date" with comet Tempel 1. Feel free to sing along!
1. "The Way You Look Tonight" – The spacecraft is on a course to fly by comet Tempel 1 on Feb. 14 at about 8:37 p.m. PST (11:37 p.m. EST) -- Valentine's Day. Time of closest approach to Tempel 1 is significant because of the comet's rotation. We won't know until images are returned which face the comet has shown to the camera.
2. "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" – In 2004, Stardust became the first mission to collect particles directly from a comet, Wild 2, as well as samples of interstellar dust. The samples were returned in 2006 via a capsule that detached from the spacecraft and parachuted to the ground at a targeted area in Utah. Mission controllers then placed the still-viable Stardust spacecraft on a flight path that could reuse the flight system, if a target of opportunity presented itself. Tempel 1 became that target of opportunity.
3. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" – The Stardust-NExT mission will allow scientists for the first time to look for changes on a comet's surface that occurred after one orbit around the sun. Tempel 1 was observed in 2005 by NASA's Deep Impact mission, which put an impactor on a collision course with the comet. Stardust-NExT might get a glimpse of the crater left behind, but if not, the comet would provide scientists with previously unseen areas for study. In addition, the Stardust-NExT encounter might reveal changes to Tempel 1 between Deep Impact and Stardust-Next, since the comet has completed an orbit around the sun.
4. "The Wind Beneath My Wings" – This Tempel 1 flyby will write the final chapter of the spacecraft's success story. The aging spacecraft approached 12 years of space travel on Feb. 7, logging almost 6 billion kilometers (3.5 billion miles) since launch. The spacecraft is nearly out of fuel. The Tempel 1 flyby and return of images are expected to consume the remaining fuel.
5. "Love is Now the Stardust of Yesterday" – Although the spacecraft itself will no longer be active after the flyby, the data collected by the Stardust-NExT mission will provide comet scientists with years of data to study how comets formed and evolved.


Bonus points for naming all the artists who sing these catchy tunes.

clln

may as well finish this off,some images have been processed,nothing like the quality seen from Epoxi or Rosetta's encounters sadly:(



full image gallery here:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stardust/multimedia/version1/index.html

Beeker

clln wrote: »

To while away the hours can you get five out of five?

Here are five facts you should know about NASA's Stardust-NExT spacecraft as it prepares for a Valentine's "date" with comet Tempel 1. Feel free to sing along!

Bonus points for naming all the artists who sing these catchy tunes.

1. "The Way You Look Tonight" Fred Astaire.
2. "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" – Celine Dion
3. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" – Peter, Paul and Mary
4. "The Wind Beneath My Wings" – Sheena Easton
5. "Love is Now the Stardust of Yesterday" - Nat King Cole
:) Can't beat Wikipedia:D

clln

Beeker wrote: »

1. "The Way You Look Tonight" Fred Astaire.
2. "It's All Coming Back To Me Now" – Celine Dion
3. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" – Peter, Paul and Mary
4. "The Wind Beneath My Wings" – Sheena Easton
5. "Love is Now the Stardust of Yesterday" - Nat King Cole
:) Can't beat Wikipedia:D

Ah good to see i got ya back for having me trawl the net for the new 133 crew pic!:p

Beeker

Some nice images of the pass out today.

clln

much better! i thought the first one's released were going to be of closest approach!

clln

Sometimes i wonder why people do not get excited about comet fly-bys by spacecraft,but much as i would like to force more people to do so i can only hope.:)

Stardust-NExTS has returned pictures of a crater left on comet temple 1 by the craft 'deep impact' that sent a probe down in 2005 to crash into the surface to see and learn what the dust cloud would throw up.

This pair of images shows the before-and-after comparison of the part of comet Tempel 1 that was hit by the impactor from NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft.

The left-hand image is a composite made from images obtained by Deep Impact in July 2005. The right-hand image shows arrows identifying the rim of the crater caused by the impactor. The crater is estimated to be 150 meters (500 feet) in diameter. This image also shows a brighter mound in the center of the crater likely created when material from the impact fell back into the crater.

higher resolution images available to view or download here:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stardust/news/stardust20110215.html

Beeker

clln wrote: »

Sometimes i wonder why people do not get excited about comet fly-bys by spacecraft,but much as i would like to force more people to do so i can only hope.:)

Stardust-NExTS has returned pictures of a crater left on comet temple 1 by the craft 'deep impact' that sent a probe down in 2005 to crash into the surface to see and learn what the dust cloud would throw up.





higher resolution images available to view or download here:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stardust/news/stardust20110215.html

Just look at what we can do:)