Stardust Spacecraft Embarks On Final Mission
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4)- Valentine's Day marks the last mission for an aging spacecraft built in Colorado at Lockheed Martin. It's called "Stardust" and on Monday night, it will be flown close to the comet "Tempel One."
Stardust is the size of a phone booth and it moving at 25,000 miles an hour. The spacecraft needs to come within 124 miles of the comet.
The tricky job of getting Stardust near the comet will be handled by engineers at Lockheed Martin. They must calculate the changing trajectory of the comet. The flight path keeps changing because comets disintegrate.
"What we do is currently we're on the spacecraft taking pictures of the comet as we're coming in. The navigation team then uses that information and with the doppler data. The relationship between the stars, the comet and the spacecraft, hopefully they can navigate us in," said Stardust Program Manager Allan Cheuvront.
The comet is important because they carry original matter from the beginnings of the solar system.
"A lot of scientists believe it contains the formation of life," said Cheuvront.
Once the fly-by is complete, Stardust will be out of fuel. It has been completing missions for NASA for 12 years.
Stardust was built at the Lockheed Martin Waterton Canyon facility.
