Stardust Goes Dark Today

NASA Turns off Stardust Today
“On Thursday, March 24 at about 4 p.m. PDT (7 p.m. EDT), NASA’s Stardust spacecraft will perform a final burn with its main engines. At first glance, the burn is something of an insignificant event. After all, the venerable spacecraft has executed 40 major flight path maneuvers since its 1999 launch, and between these main engines and the reaction control system, its rocket motors have collectively fired more than 2 million times. But the March 24 burn will be different from all others. This burn will effectively end the life of NASA’s most traveled comet hunter.”