Tom Duxbury
Tom Duxbury
early earth few next played project returning role science solar unfold
The science that's going to come out of this, that's going to tell us about the early formation of our solar system, the role that comets have played in the formation of Earth and ourselves, that will unfold over the next few years. The science that this project is returning will be unprecedented.
surprising
It was a long 10 years and when it was over it was surprising it was over.
community delivered material project science since solar stardust
The Stardust project has delivered to the international science community material that has been unaltered since the formation of our solar system.
desert early flight floor morning operations picked planning realized return seven ten
Ten years of planning and seven years of flight operations were realized early this morning when we successfully picked up our return capsule off of the desert floor in Utah.
answers child holding left parents profound questions return returns solar
We feel like parents awaiting the return of a child who left us young and innocent, who now returns holding answers to the most profound questions of our solar system.
comet spacecraft tools
This spacecraft is a comet explorer. It has the tools to do a lot more.
desert floor piece
This thing went like clockwork. To see that thing in one piece on the floor of the desert is very moving.
acts both goes perfectly spacecraft totally
We are totally prepared, both for if everything goes perfectly and if the spacecraft acts up a little bit.
concern people protective wearing
You'll see people wearing protective gear. Our concern is (contamination) from us to the particles, not the other way.
contact flown worst
We've flown through the worst of it and we're still in contact with our spacecraft.
drop home knew saw
When we saw that drop chute open, we knew we were home safe.
billion deserves digital last melody performed rest sang seven sleep spacecraft stardust today
We sang our spacecraft to sleep today with a melody of digital ones and zeros. Stardust has performed flawlessly these last seven years and 2.88 billion miles, and deserves a rest for a while, like the rest of the team.
believe hard inches mighty recover
It?s only 30 inches long, but it?s a pretty mighty craft. Even with a hard landing, we believe we will recover most ? if not all ? of our science.
hole middle opened
It was like a hole just opened up in the middle of the sky.