Comet-hunting craft has quarry in its sights
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The image, the first of many comet portraits Stardust will take in the coming weeks, will help plot the final trajectory for a Wild-2 encounter on January 2.
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PASADENA, California (AP) -- A comet-chasing spacecraft has its quarry in sight, weeks before it is to swoop past the frozen ball of rock and ice to capture samples of its glittering tail for return to Earth.
NASA's Stardust spacecraft successfully photographed the comet Wild 2 (pronounced Vilt-2) on November 13, weeks before expected, mission members said. The comet was 15.5 million miles away at the time.
"Christmas came early this year," project manager Tom Duxbury at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said Monday.
Stardust will continue to photograph the comet over the next month, leading up to its January 2 flyby of the icy body. The images greatly aid Stardust mission members as they fine-tune the spacecraft's path as it closes in on Wild 2, NASA said.
During its close encounter, engineers and scientists hope the unmanned probe will fly within 186 miles of the 3.3-mile wide comet.
During the flyby, scientists hope to collect and trap samples of the dust streaming off the comet. The spacecraft will return to Earth in 2006 to drop off the samples in a parachute-equipped capsule.
The $200 million Stardust mission was launched in 1999.
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