The Stardust@Home site has officially opened its doors to let PC users participate in a project to identify minute comet particles trapped by NASA's Stardust space probe. As of Monday, 115,000 people had pre-registered to take part in the program.
The Stardust spacecraft launched in 1999 and reached Comet Wild2 in 2004. Twice, aerogel collectors were opened to capture particles from the comet. It safely returned to Earth on Jan. 15, 2006, and scientists have been studying the particles since.
Stardust@Home volunteers will be asked to examine one of 1.6 million "focus movies" from sections of the aerogel collectors to see if they can spot a particle that could be a micron in size. And to make it an even tougher task, volunteers will need to pass a test in the use of a virtual microscope that works with their Web browser before they earn the privilege to study samples.
Pictured here is a composite of Comet Wild2 produced from Stardust photographs.
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