Comet Dust Brought to Earth

A NASA capsule parachuted to the ground Sunday carrying dust from a comet’s tail.

On the ground, NASA scientists were waiting anxiously to examine the samples for clues about how the solar system was formed, CNN reported.

The Stardust capsule landed 2 minutes ahead of schedule at the Utah Test and Training Range southwest of Salt Lake City, CNN said. The unmanned spacecraft itself had traveled 3 billion miles to collect the sample, and passed back near Earth to drop the capsule.

The sample was taken to a clean room at the proving grounds, but will be shipped to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston this week.

NASA said complete analysis of the material, including molecular analysis, may take years.

There isn’t a lot of material — about a thimble full — and it must be separated from a substance called aerogel, which is used to help trap the comet dust.

Aerogel is a lightweight silica glass that is 99.8 percent air and looks like frozen smoke, CNN said.