The Stardust-NExT mission will fly past comet Tempel 1 next Valentine's Day (Feb. 14, 2011) at 11:30 PM Eastern time. NExT stands for New Exploration of Tempel 1.
Launched on Feb. 7, 1999, Stardust became the first spacecraft in history to collect samples from a comet (comet Wild 2), and return them to Earth for study. While its sample return capsule parachuted to Earth in January 2006, mission controllers were placing the still viable spacecraft on a path that would allow NASA the opportunity to re-use the already-proven flight system if a target of opportunity presented itself.
In January 2007, NASA re-christened the mission "Stardust-NExT" (New Exploration of Tempel), and the Stardust team began a four-and-a-half year journey for the spacecraft to comet Tempel 1. This will be the second exploration of Tempel 1by a spacecraft (Deep Impact). The fuel supply on the Stardust-NExT is very low but within operational parameters, notes Spaceflight Now, and according to mission engineers and scientists.
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