Tsou, P.; Brownlee, D.E.; Anderson, J.D.; Bhaskaran, S.; Cheuvront, A.R.; Clark, B.C.; Duxbury, T.; Economou, T.; Green, S.F.; Hanner, M.S.; Horz, F.; Kissel, J.; McDonnell, J.A.M.; Newburn, R.L.; Ryan, R.E.; Sandford, S.A.; Sekanina, Z.; Tuzzolino, A.J.; Vellinga, J.M. and Zolensky, M.E.
(2004).
| DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Link: | http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1029/2004JE002317 |
|---|---|
| Google Scholar: | Look up in Google Scholar |
Abstract
Stardust successfully encountered comet 81P/Wild 2 on 2 January 2004 at a distance of 236.4 ± 1 km. All encounter investigations acquired valuable new and surprising findings. The time-of-flight spectrometer registered 29 spectra during flyby and measured the first negative ion mass spectra of cometary particles. The dust detectors recorded particles over a broad mass range, 10−11 to 10−4 g. Unexpectedly, the dust distribution along Stardust's flight path was far from uniform, but instead occurred in short “bursts,” suggesting in-flight breakup of fragments ejected from the nucleus. High-resolution, stunning images of the Wild 2 surface show a diverse and complex variety of landforms not seen from comets 1P/Halley and 19P/Borrelly or icy satellites of the outer solar system. Longer-exposure images reveal large numbers of jets projected nearly around the entire perimeter of the nucleus, many of which appear to be highly collimated. A triaxial ellipsoidal fit of the Wild 2 nucleus images yields the principal nucleus radii of 1.65 × 2.00 × 2.75 km (± 0.05 km). The orientations and source locations on the nucleus surface of 20 highly collimated and partially overlapping jets have been traced. There is every indication that the expected samples were successfully collected from the Wild 2 coma and are poised for a return to Earth on 15 January 2006.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
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| Copyright Holders: | 2004 by the American Geophysical Union |
| ISSN: | 2156-2202 |
| Keywords: | comet sample return; Stardust mission; Wild 2 |
| Academic Unit/Department: | Science > Physical Sciences Other Departments > Other Departments |
| Interdisciplinary Research Centre: | Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space and Astronomical Research (CEPSAR) |
| Item ID: | 5402 |
| Depositing User: | Users 6044 not found. |
| Date Deposited: | 01 Sep 2006 |
| Last Modified: | 27 Jun 2011 11:24 |
| URI: | http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/5402 |
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