Event Type
Public Program

Location
William M. Allen Theater

On Jan. 2, 2004, the Stardust spacecraft flew through the coma of
Comet Wild 2 and collected approximately 1 million bits of dust from the comet.
Two years later it flew back past Earth and dropped the sample return capsule
off in the Utah desert. These are the first extraterrestrial samples
returned to Earth since the 1970s, the first from beyond the Moon and have
revolutionized our understanding of these cosmic building blocks. Stardust
Principal Investigator Don Brownlee will share the details of this exciting
mission and what it has shown us about the formation of our Solar System.

Program is Free with Museum Admission

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