The Stardust spacecraft has successfully completed a three-part deep space maneuver designed to keep it on target for an Earth gravity assist in January 2001. That gravity assist will propel the spacecraft toward its 2004 rendezvous with the Comet Wild-2.

The maneuver consisted of a trio of propulsion firings performed on January 18, 20 and 22 to achieve velocity changes of 130, 116 and 107 miles per hour, respectively . Each firing lasted for about 30 minutes. With these three engine burns, plus a short firing of 25 miles per hour made in late December, the flight team changed the spacecraft velocity by about 383 miles per hour and put Stardust on target for next year's swingby of Earth.

Stardust's mission is to collect samples of comet dust from Wild-2 for return to Earth in 2006. While en route, the spacecraft will also attempt to gather samples of interstellar dust particles for study on Earth. Engineers plan to command Stardust to extend its dust collector on February 22 to begin collecting interstellar dust from a stream flowing into our solar system.

Click here for complete information about the Stardust mission.

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