STARDUST Spacecraft and Comet Wild 2

(The STARDUST spacecraft has landed on target in Utah 3:10 AM MT Jan. 15, 2006.
Updates of the plot below have stopped.)


Current Positions for Flight Day 0.80

Trajectory Animation (white)
Explanation and More Animations

   Mission Phase:      

   Positions and Velocities  for Thur Feb 9, 2012, 09:40:45 MST    (Thur Feb 9, 2012, 16:40:45 UTC)
Current Position
& Velocity		 Distance from Earth Distance from Sun Orbital Velocity
AU x106 km x106 miles AU x106 km x106 miles km/sec mph
Comet Wild 2 0.000000 0.000000 0.00 0.000000 0.000000 0.00 0.00 0
STARDUST 0.000000 0.000000 0.00 0.000000 0.000000 0.00 0.00 0

   Wild 2 Observational Ephemerides

Wild 2 heliocentric osculating elements wrt ecliptic and mean equinox of J2000.0
For GMT, geocentric coordinates.   Initial Elements,   Complete Ephemeris,   Def. Terms
Date R.A. Dec. TMag Delta r Theta Beta Moon/Illum. Cnst

   Mission Time
Current TimeThur Feb 9, 2012   09:40:45 MST
Thur Feb 9, 2012   16:40:45 UTC
2450489.194965278 Julian
Launch Time, UTC (Injection)Feb 7, 1999 21:25:49.5
Julian Launch Time (Injection)2451217.3929341
Current Ephemeris Start Time, Spacecraft
Flight Day (Days Since Injection)0.802031178

   Interactive Plotting Program
Ephemerides for Thur Feb 9, 2012 21:25:49.5 UTC (Julian Day 2450488.3929341 )
Earth Mean Ecliptic, Equinox of J2000
Objects to Plot: a e i om Om xyz
Sun 0.0000000.0000000.000000
Earth 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
Mars 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
Jupiter 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
Wild 2 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
 STARDUST 0 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000

Plot Options

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Orbital equations by James Howard.  The ephemerides for Wild 2, Wild 2 Observables, Mars, Earth, and Jupiter were generated using the JPL Horizons System.  STARDUST Spacecraft Ephemerides provided by Ed Hirst of JPL.  CGI Perl script by Tom Meyer. After running a Plot, return here to view the plotfile.     Changes and Notes.

Last update: May 28, 2001 by Tom Meyer,