NASA's Stardust probe has returned to Earth, apparently intact and carrying precious cargo: primordial dust particles snatched from the tail of a comet.
The Stardust mission capsule landed two minutes ahead of schedule at the Air Force's Utah Test and Training Range southwest of Salt Lake City."We traveled almost 3 billion miles in space," principal investigator Don Brownlee said from nearby Dugway Proving Grounds. "We visited a comet, grabbed a piece of it, and it landed here this morning. It's an incredible thrill."
The canister containing the samples was taken to a "clean room" at the proving grounds; it will be shipped to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, this week. Complete analysis of the material, some of which will be conducted on the molecular level, should take years.
Brownlee has said scientists would have some results, such as the number of particles recovered, within days and more detailed findings within weeks.
Related:
• Landing video via CNN
• NASA - Stardust mission site