It is quite exciting to find these things at the edge of the solar system. |
It's certain such materials never formed inside this icy, cold body. |
It's coming apart under the heating of the sun. |
It's fascinating that they're so different. |
It's not much, but still it's so much that we're almost overwhelmed. The first grain we worked on, we haven't even cut into the main part of the particle yet. |
It's really quite an epic thing. I think it tends to get overlooked because it's just a little mission, and there aren't any people on board. |
It's thrilling. We have samples of a comet from the edge of the solar system. |
Its cargo was an ancient, cosmic treasure from the very edge of the solar system ? a treasure that formed when the solar system formed 4.5 billion years ago. |
Last Sunday, after seven years in space traveling nearly three billion miles, Stardust landed in the Great Salt Lake Desert with a treasure from when the solar system formed 4.6 billion years ago. We should have more than one million particles larger than one micron in diameter. |
Our capsule is half the size and one-fourth the mass of Genesis, |
Remarkably enough, we have found fire and ice. |
Remarkably enough, we have found fire and ice. We've found samples from the coldest part of the solar system that have mineral grains formed under extremely high temperatures. |
Scientifically, that's great, because there's been lots of discussion of whether comets contain minerals or glass. |
So far, as far as we know Wild 2 is a unique object. |
Stardust is a phenomenal success. |