Over the last two decades a variety of spacecraft have voyaged to six comets and several asteroids.
In 1999, NASA launched a comet sample return mission known as Stardust.
In January 2004 the spacecraft flew within 149 miles of the nucleus of comet Wild 2, collected samples of comet dust, and stored them in a return capsule. After a roundtrip journey of some 2.88 billion miles, the capsule returned to Earth with its precious sample on January 15, 2006.
Deep Impact, another NASA Discovery mission, brought yet another approach to comet exploration -- impacting a comet and studying the subsequent debris for clues to the origin of the solar system. Analysis of the debris showed large amounts of organic material, confirming that during its history, Earth might have been infused with organics from similar comets.
Image: David Brownlee, Stardust principal investigator with the University of Washington, flashes a victory sign for the successful arrival of Stardust material.
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