Don Brownlee
Don Brownlee
basic bring collect comet earth material mission primary purpose solar stardust
The primary purpose of the Stardust mission was to collect comet dust, the most basic material of the solar system, and bring it back to Earth for study.
collected considered extremely form found high minerals normally siberia solar
We found mineral grains that are considered very high-temperature minerals -- they normally form under extremely high temperature conditions. And yet they were collected in a comet, the Siberia of the solar system.
starting work
We're just starting to work on this ... it will take years to analyze.
boards columbia cultural genesis heavy level required review scrutiny shift undergone understand
We've undergone a very heavy level of scrutiny by review boards because of Genesis and because of the Columbia accident. . . . It was a cultural shift in NASA, that you're now required to understand all the risks.
blocks building cold collect comet confident edge far formed initial materials mission primitive solar sun
We did this mission to collect the most primitive materials we could in the solar system. We went to a comet that formed at the edge of the solar system, far from the sun under very cold conditions. We're confident that it was made out of the initial building blocks of our solar system.
ancient collecting literally older reaching solar
We're collecting things that are very ancient and even older than our solar system. We are literally reaching for the stars.
ability comet dust history jumping people planet quickly totally
We were jumping up and down ? we were totally overwhelmed by the ability to see this so quickly and so straightforwardly. We were the first people in the history of the planet to see comet dust in hand.
captured exploded until
We didn't really know until now if we had captured them. For all we knew, they could have just exploded on impact.
fantastic quite
We are nearing the end of quite a fantastic voyage.
cent comet exactly organic per
About 10 per cent of this comet is made of organic materials. We don't know exactly what they all are but it is very exciting.
absolutely comet identified particle seeing
You're seeing the very first, absolutely identified comet particle that has ever been seen.
includes science surprised
This is when the real science begins. And I wouldn't be surprised if what we find includes some surprises.
billion changed looked since
This is what we looked like 4.5 billion years ago. Comets haven't changed since then.
mystery
This is very exciting. It's a mystery story.