Officials of the Stardust mission said the close encounter with a comet appeared to be a success.

Members of the Stardust mission announce their intention to ask volunteers to find collected dust grains by using the Internet.

In late 1995 the Stardust mission was selected to be the fourth Discovery mission.

The primary objective of the Stardust mission is to capture both cometary samples and interstellar dust.

During the original Stardust mission, contamination was observed on the camera's lens during a post-launch calibration test.

The Stardust mission to bring back samples of comet and interstellar dust was more successful than they had hoped, scientists said yesterday.

The presence of crystals in comets was suggested by astronomical observations but the Stardust mission results provide important new insight into their origin and history.

The comet particles returned by the Stardust mission have been a real bonanza.

The capsule with encased samples will be retrieved from Earth's surface and studied, as was done with the Stardust mission.

More information on the Stardust mission is available at http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov .