Memetic Horizon

The National Aeronautics and Space Agency, of the United States, has succeeded in bringing back to Earth a capsule containing both star and comet dust. This low-bandwith information took a seven year journey, an unknown number of years of tests ahead.

"I have been waiting for this day since the early 1980s when Deputy Principal Investigator Dr. Peter Tsou of JPL and I designed a mission to collect comet dust," said Dr. Don Brownlee, Stardust principal investigator from the University of Washington, Seattle. "To see the capsule safely back on its home planet is a thrilling accomplishment."

The sample return capsule's science canister and its cargo of comet and interstellar dust particles will be stowed inside a special aluminum carrying case to await transfer to the Johnson Space Center, Houston, where it will be opened. NASA's Stardust mission traveled 2.88 billion miles during its seven-year round-trip odyssey. Scientists believe these precious samples will help provide answers to fundamental questions about comets and the origins of the solar system.

The results are something to look forward to: being better able to calculate the size and mass and age of the universe, even glimpse at its beginnings.