Safe Stardust Return

Early this morning, NASA's Stardust probe returned safely to Earth, landing in windy conditions in the Utah Great Salt Lake Desert. During its seven years of travel through the solar system, Stardust has collected samples of comet and interstellar dust, allowing scientists to gain insight into both comets and the early formative stages of the solar system. The above image of comet Wild 2 was captured by Stardust on January 2, 2004 while collecting particles from its coma. Here is the New York Times article.