Comet catcher closing in on target

BETHESDA, Md., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A space ship launched five years ago to analyze a comet is in position to accompish its mission, Maryland's Discovery News reported Wednesday.

Known as Stardust, the robotic scout has traveled some two billion miles to get to the far side of the sun so it can analyze one-thousandth of an ounce of dust from the Wild-2 comet.

The rendevous -- at exactly 2:20 p.m. EST -- will be quick, with Stardust traveling at 13,650 mph relative to its target.

Engineers programmed the probe to approach Wild-2 from above, then dip below, allowing itself, in effect, to be run over.

The maneuver has been planned to get Stardust within about 186 miles of the comet's core -- close enough to trap some particles for return to Earth but far enough away to avoid being damaged or destroyed by the comet's debris.

"This could prove to be a pivotal time for science," said Donald Brownlee, principal scientist for the Stardust mission.

"There's a museum out there in the outer solar system that has preserved our building blocks, and it is going to be an absolute thrill to have this stuff to look at."