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NASA TV Schedule
NASA TVJanuary 19, Thursday
11 a.m. [EST; 08:00 PST; 16:00 UTC] - Stardust News Conference - JSC (Interactive Media Briefing)
5 p.m. - 7 p.m. [EST; 14:00-16:00 PST; 22:00-midnight UTC] - Live News Interviews on Stardust with Mike Zolensky - JSC (One-Way Media Interviews)
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Watching it now(through an alternate feed)Originally Posted by 01101001
That Aerogel is surreal. I'd love to see/hold that stuff. Any picture I've seen looks doctored.
Edit to add: If they can point out the strikes in the returned capsule, Then what exactly will we be looking for on Stardust@home ? Just smaller strikes?
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Established Member
Aerogel history, an interesting read.
http://eande.lbl.gov/ECS/aerogels/sahist.htm
Additional info:
http://eande.lbl.gov/ECS/aerogels/satoc.htm
Member
Pic of a nice large impact in the aero-gel
Image
Last edited by Wolverine; 2006-Jan-20 at 06:09 PM. Reason: Replaced hotlinked image with URL.
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For comet grains, there are on the order of one million captured, larger than a micron. The ones they are able to point out as as large as 10 microns, maybe more. There are in the tiny minority.
What I've heard Stardust@home for is the actual "stardust" not comet dust, on the flip-side of the collector -- though I wouldn't be surprised if they had you looking for comet particles, too. The interstellar dust grains may only number around 100. They will be hard to find, few and far between.
Each comet-dust "ice cube" might contain tens of thousands of particles.
Each star-dust cube might contain none or one particle.
Last edited by 01101001; 2006-Jan-20 at 07:35 AM.
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Whatever the case may be, it sounds fascinating. I'm sure it will be all spelled out when they are ready to release it.
Some of the coverage yesterday did add a lot of interesting detail, but it's going to take time away from work for me to absorb it.
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HDJ, I replaced the image you hotlinked with a URL. If you've not yet done so, please have a look at our forum rules. (#8 addresses hotlinking)
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NASA Stardust Media Advisory: NASA Postpones Stardust Mission Media Update
NASA has postponed the Stardust comet mission media briefing scheduled for 1 p.m. EST (12 p.m. CST), Tuesday. The agency plans to allow the Stardust science team additional time to assess and distribute cometary samples before scheduling media briefings.
NASA has enlisted more than 150 experts to accelerate sample studies. The first samples will be shipped to researchers this week.
Honored Member
There's a show about Stardust on the Science Channel tonight at 9 PM EST. It's called Catching the Comet and will be repeated later in the evening.
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I saw that. I wonder what will be done with the empty capsule. Museum?
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Stardust Status Report, January 25, 2006
We have removed many aerogel fragments and found many particles in them; removed 7 pieces of aluminum foil and found very many small craters in them; removed several particles from the fragments and examined them by IR; microtomed several particles; removed two Wild 2 aerogel cells from the tray; and sliced one of the removed aerogel cell with the harmonic saw.
Moderator
What is a harmonic saw?
Do they sing in Barbershop Quartet's when not cutting aerogel
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Stardust, the Motion Picture:
Stardust Capsule Reentry Movie
Kewl.This movie was taken from a NASA DC-8 aircraft as the Stardust sample return capsule entered the atmosphere in the early morning hours of Jan. 15, 2006. At the time this video was shot, the DC-8 was flying at the eastern edge of the Nevada state line. The Stardust sample return capsule had a soft landing in the US Air Force's Utah Test and Training Range at 3:10 am MST.
Hey, BA, here's your chance to really see the fireball.
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That aroused my curiosity also. All I could find web-searching were a couple of mundane defunct for-sale listings, among scroll saws and other similar power tools.
From the Stardust context, it sounds like a special saw for cutting the aerogel, perhaps using some vibrational effect. (Perhaps it can cut the aerogel at some harmonic oscillation frequency, without harming the embedded samples.)
Anyone ever run into a harmonic saw? How did it sound? Did it hurt?
Moderator
And has it released its latest single yet
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Ah. I didn't find the word "harmonic" but now I know a little more about cutting aerogel, with minimal impact on transparency.
Cutting Silica Aerogel for Particle Extraction (PDF, 92 kB) outlines the problems and suggests 3 broad methods.
The mechanical methods explored were: wire diamond saw, blade saw, vibrating disruption and perforation.To date, three basic techniques have been explored: mechanical cutting, lasers cutting and ion beam milling.
ULTRASONIC MICRO-BLADES FOR THE RAPID EXTRACTION OF IMPACT TRACKS FROM AEROGEL (PDF, 207 kB) might be where a harmonic saw is described (but not so named).
We have found that piezo-driven ultrasonic frequency (U/S) oscillations applied to very sharp, thin blades [...] generate unprecedented rapid and smooth cuts with minimal damage to surrounding aerogel[...]
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No, I'm just tired of waiting for Gemini results...among others.
Honored Member
Let's see, the last Gemini mission landed on November 15, 1966. No wonder you're tired.
In general, NASA really needs to create a means of releasing this information in an expedited manner, perhaps a special office called Immediate Data for Jerry's Informative Theories.
Vulcan Administrator
Another area of investigation from Stardust:
Stardust Capsule Reentry Observing Campaign
NASA's man-made meteor sets new standardsThe scientists achieved all of their goals. They measured light identified as to come from the hot surface, emissions from the shock, emissions from ablated carbon reacting with the shock, and trace metal atom impurities in what is presumably the heat shield material. They expect to be able to learn from this how well the heatshield performed, what physical processes occur in natural meteors, and how life's first molecules may have originated from comet dust.
(Apologies that the complete story at the second link is available only to subscribers, but I think you can get the gist, regardless.)An array of instruments watched Stardust's sample capsule blaze through the atmosphere, setting a baseline for the energetics of natural meteors
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
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Stardust Mission Status Report: Stardust put into hibernation
"We sang our spacecraft to sleep today with a melody of digital ones and zeros," said Tom Duxbury, Stardust project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Stardust has performed flawlessly these last seven years and 2.88 billion miles and deserves a rest for a while, like the rest of the team."
The "song" was actually a series of commands that was sent up to the spacecraft yesterday, Jan. 29 at 4 p.m. Pacific time (7 p.m. Eastern time). The commands deactivated all but a few essential systems, such as Stardust's solar arrays and receive antenna - which will remain powered on. This long-term hibernation state could allow for almost indefinite (tens of years) out-of-contact operations while maintaining the spacecraft health.
"Placing Stardust in hibernation gives us options to possibly reuse it in the future," said Dr. Tom Morgan, Stardust Program Executive at NASA Headquarters, Washington. "The mission has already been a great success, but if at all possible we may want to add even more scientific dividends to this remarkable mission's record of achievement."
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Stardust Update Briefing March 13, 3 p.m. [1500 EST; 1200 PST; 2000 GMT]
NASA News Release: NASA Announces First Stardust Comet Sample Results
Watch NASA TVResults from the first studies of cometary samples returned to Earth by NASA’s Stardust spacecraft is the subject of a news conference at 3 p.m. EST, Monday, March 13, from NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston
NASA TV Events Schedule
March 13, Monday
3 p.m. [1500 EST; 1200 PST; 2000 GMT] - Stardust Update Briefing - JSC (Interactive Media Briefing) (Public and Media Channels)
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Can't wait to see the prelims.
Vulcan Administrator
NASA Stardust Capsule To Go On Display At Smithsonian
Having returned the world's first particles from a comet, NASA's Stardust sample return capsule will join the collection of flight icons in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington. The capsule will go on public display in the museum's Milestones of Flight Gallery on Oct. 1, the 50th anniversary of NASA.
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
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I knew one day my name would be in the Smithsonian!
Stardust Microchip
Stardust Microchip FAQ
Will the microchips remain in space or will they come back to Earth?
Both. Two copies of each microchip were made. One set will remain in space in the STARDUST spacecraft which will continue to orbit the Sun after the mission. The other set of chips will be returned to Earth in the Sample Return Capsule. Plans are to place the returned microchips in a major museum, most likely the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
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Hurrah for you, Binary Guy!
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