Stardust Capsule Lands in Utah

A capsule carrying dust particles from the tail of a comet parachuted to Earth today and elated NASA scientists were eager to examine the samples for clues about how the solar system formed. The material, expected to be about a thimbleful, must be separated from a substance called aerogel, used to help trap the particles.

Aerogel is a strong, lightweight silica glass that is 99.8 percent air and looks like frozen smoke.
Complete analysis of the material, some of which will be conducted on the molecular level, should take years.

Launched in 1999, Stardust orbited the sun on a long intercept course with the comet Wild-2. On January 2, 2004, it flew through the comet's tail, collecting bits of dust in a tennis racket-shaped collector filled with aerogel.