WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Bright white light (left) and blue light (upper right) appear on the solar panels of the Stardust spacecraft during lighting tests in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. Stardust is scheduled to be launched aboard a Boeing Delta II rocket from Launch Pad 17A, Cape Canaveral Air Station, on Feb. 6, 1999, for a rendezvous with the comet Wild 2 in January 2004. Stardust will use a substance called aerogel to capture comet particles flying off the nucleus of the comet, plus collect interstellar dust for later analysis. The collected samples will return to Earth in a sample return capsule to be jettisoned as it swings by Earth in January 2006.