NASA to Return Comet Samples to Earth

NASA's Stardust Mission is going to return some intestellar dust samples to Earth, which may contain the materials backdated the era of the formation of this universe. Alicia Chang of The Associated Press reported. Abridged excerpts are:

Comets have long lit up the sky and the imaginations of scientists. Now these icy bodies from the beginnings of the solar system are finally ready for their close-up.

Six months after NASA scientists first peeked inside one comet from afar, they're bringing pieces of another to Earth for study under the microscope.

This weekend, the Stardust spacecraft will jettison a 100-pound capsule holding comet dust. It will nosedive through the Earth's atmosphere and _ if all goes well _ make a soft landing in the Utah desert.

The searing plunge is expected to generate a pinkish glow as bright as Venus that should be visible without a telescope across much of the West.

Comets _ which astronomers consider to be among the solar system's leftover building blocks _ have been scrutinized for centuries. But only in recent years have scientists had the technology to learn firsthand their ingredients.