On December 9, Stardust successfully concluded its second collection period of interstellar particles. Telemetry verified the spacecraft's wrist, shoulder, and hinge motors all performed as expected and that the collection grid was successfully stowed. This collection period spanned 126 days.

Interstellar dust was first discovered by dust detectors on the Ulysses spacecraft in 1993 and later confirmed by the Galileo mission to Jupiter. Scientists believe the dust particles contain heavy chemical elements originated in stars. Since every atom in our bodies came from the inside of stars, by thoroughly studying this interstellar dust scientists hope to learn more about our cosmic roots.

A Dust Flux Monitor Instrument (DFMI) on Stardust will be used to monitor interstellar dust particle encounters. In addition, a Cometary and Interstellar Dust Analyzer instrument (CIDA) will intercept and perform real-time compositional analysis on this dust. The interstellar dust and comet dust particles will return to Earth in January of 2006 for further analysis.

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