Space fireworks

The Gemini North telescope, located on Hawaii's Mauna Kea successfully captured images, before and after the collision that clearly show the debris cloud moving off the comet. They also found evidence that rocky materials were exposed on the comet's surface.

[T]he Gemini data will keep astronomers busy for years.

"How do clays and carbonates form in frozen comets where there isn't liquid water?"..

"Nobody expected this."

01.18.06 -- NASA scientists have confirmed the Stardust return capsule contains cometary samples and interstellar dust.

"The collection of cometary particles has exceeded our expectations," said Dr. Donald Brownlee, Stardust principal investigator. "We were absolutely thrilled to see thousands of impacts on the aerogel." Aerogel is a sponge-like solid made of 99 percent empty space, ideal for capturing tiny particles.

Stardust landed in Utah on Sunday after a seven-year, three-billion-mile journey in space; the samples arrived in at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston Tuesday.

Brownlee and other researchers will hold a press conference Thursday at 11 a.m. EST at the Johnson Space Center. Later that afternoon from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. EST, the researchers will be available for media interviews.