Once the Sample Return Capsule is recovered at the Utah Test and
Training Range (UTTR), its contents will be placed in the
capable hands of the Stardust Curation Team - who are based at
the Johnson Space Center (JSC). This team will then go about the
business of carefully transporting the aerogel containing grains
from Comet Wild 2 and interstellar dust to their special
facility at JSC for examination. The samples gathered by
Stardust are expected to consist of approximately 1000 cometary
dust particles measuring less than 100 =B5m each, and an
additional 100 interstellar dust grains primarily of sub-micron
size. The expected total mass of the sample will probably be 1
mg, less than a thimbleful. For the Stardust Mission, both comet
coma samples and the interstellar grains must be captured at
high velocity with minimal heating and other effects of physical
alteration. Particle collection at this speed has been
extensively demonstrated in laboratory tests, Shuttle flights
and on the MIR Space Station. Research