NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

+ Download and watch the Stardust re-entry video (Quicktime - 10.3 MB - with caption)

Stardust Capsule Return as seen from NASA's DC-8 Airborne Laboratory with a mission to explore the conditions during reentry from the light emitted by the fireball caused when the capsule streaked through the sky. The aircraft was located near the end of the trajectory, just outside of UTTR. The participating researchers are from NASA Ames, the SETI Institute, the University of Alaska, Utah State University, Lockheed Martin, U.S. Air Force Academy, the University of Kobe (Japan), and Stuttgart University (Germany).

Stardust Capsule Return as seen by the supporting ground-based observers, with a mission to measure details in the capsule images and measure how the light fades after the capsule passes by the observers and is seen from behind. Ground based observers are affiliated with Clay Center Observatory of the Dexter and Southfield Schools, Los Alamos National Laboratories, DLR/SOFIA, Stanford University, and the San Jose Astronomical Association.

	Stardust capsule returning from space + View Larger Image
	Stardust capsule returning from space + View Larger Image
	Stardust capsule returning from space + View Larger Image
	DC-8 Airborne Laboratory aircraft + View Larger Image

For more information, please visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/research/exploringtheuniverse/stardust.html

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2006/06_01AR.html

http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov

http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov

To view a map of the stardust path, please visit:

http://reentry.arc.nasa.gov/viewingarea.jpg