Monday, January 16, 2006
Stardust
No, it doesn't get in your eyes - at least I hope not. Here's something pretty cool. Nasa's Stardust mission ended this Sunday after 2.9 billion miles and 7 years of cruising the solar system.
If you don't know about, the mission went out and visited the comet Wild 2 in January of 2004. (Trivia note - it's not pronounced like "Wild Thing" but like "Vilt 2.") While it passed by, it snagged some particles with an aerogel loaded device. Today it brought back those particles and landed in Utah. Think about this for a minute. This little craft went trucking around for 7 years and then landed back on earth right where it was supposed to. I have more trouble than that finding where my car is parked.
On the other hand, if you're an old timer like me, you might remember a movie called The Andromeda Strain which played back in 1971. In it a satellite crashes in New Mexico and it was carrying an alien virus that was deadly to mankind (no surprise in a movie). In the movie, the virus kills some folks, threatens mankind as we know and in the end is done in by a thunderstorm. That satellite (if I remember correctly) was mistakenly contaminated by alien particles. In Stardust we went after the stuff on purpose. I sure hope their clean room facility is more leak proof than Washington D.C.
