[extropy-chat] Stardust Capsule Return Press briefing

[Amara Graps]

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

Press briefing at 6:30am PST, 9:30amEST, 3:30CET
on the Stardust sample return capsule recovery.

I watched the return on NASA TV, and it was perfect! Apparently after
losing the IR tracking, and hitting the ground gently, the capsule
bounced a few times and landed on its side under the parachute, and
the helicopters needed about an hour to find it in the dark on the
Utah salt beds (they had the signal, and the IR helped, but it cooled
rapidly upon landing). Now the capsule is in a temporary storage facility
on the army base, to undergo some cleaning before being transferred to the
long term dust samples storage in Houston (and some pieces will be sent
to other laboratories all over the world for study).

BTW, I think that Don Yeomans in the broadcast made some debatable
and controversial statements about the role of comets in our lives....

Amara


-- 

Amara Graps, PhD
Istituto di Fisica dello Spazio Interplanetario (IFSI)
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica (INAF),
Adjunct Assistant Professor Astronomy, AUR,
Roma, ITALIA     Amara.Graps at ifsi.rm.cnr.it