The Stardust sample return capsule entered the atmosphere in the early morning hours of Jan. 15, 2006 and successfully delivered its cargo of comet samples to scientists as it parachuted into the Utah desert.

This commemorative patch was commissioned by Galactic Voyager to honor the many men and women who contributed to this remarkable achievement. The patch was manufactured by AB Emblems of Weaverville, North Caroline, the NASA contractor for Space Shuttle and International Space Station patches. The Stardust mission did not have an official mission patch but we at Galactic Voyager thought the project should be recognized for its contribution to the understanding of our Universe.

This patch design represents the Stardust Spacecraft with its sample collection panel open as it approaches comet Wild 2 in deep space.

For detailed information on the Stardust mission and the ongoing science visit the NASA JPL Web Site

The Stardust Comet Sample return mission was the brain-child of Dr. Peter Tsou. A long time colleague of Dr. Tsou, Dr. Donald Brownlee of the University of Washington became the Principal Investigator. Dr. Benton Clark of Lockheed Martin led the team to define the spacecraft.

This mission, conceived in the early 1990's, was part of NASA's Discovery program which had the goal of launching small, low cost robotic missions to explore the solar system. At the time, this low budget approach was a stark contrast with earlier planetary missions which typically cost billions of dollars each.

The Discovery program gained respect with the success of the Mars Pathfinder mission in 1998.

While the spacecraft was under construction at Lockheed Martin Aerospace outside of Denver, Colorado, a Time magazine report dubbed it "Dr. Brownlee's little comet catcher." By the time of its launch in February of 1999, the project was being taken more seriously.

Although is was a science project on a budget, the little spacecraft proved to be a very hardy traveller. Over a period of four years following launch, it made four ever wider loops around the Sun gaining gravity assists and pushing toward its rendezvous with comet Wild 2. During the long journey, it opened its sample collection mechanism multiple times to pick up interstellar dust particles.

In January 2004 (nearly four years after launch), Stardust encountered Wild 2 and picked up its cargo of comet dust. On its trek across deep space, Stardust reached a point 2.72 Astronomical Units (407 million kilometers or 253 million miles) from the Sun near the middle of the asteroid belt and far beyond the orbit of Mars. This is the farthest distance ever reached by a solar-powered spacecraft.

Having accomplished is primary mission, the craft began a two year return trip back to earth. On January 15, 2006 the spacecraft released its sample return capsule into the earth's atmosphere. The parachutes deployed and the capsule drifted down to a safe landing the Utah Desert.

Having traveled 2.88 billion miles during its seven-year odyssey, the capsule then made its final trip to the Johnson Space Center in Houston where scientist will spend many years studying the samples.

Meanwhile the Stardust Spacecraft proper, continues to orbit the Sun where NASA Scientists may find additional opportunities to make measurements with its on-board instruments.