STARDUST DFMI: Comet Wild 2 Dust Particle Events from 2004 Encounter

Raw data from the Dust Flux Monitor Instrument (DFMI) aboard the STARDUST spacecraft during its encounter with comet Wild 2 on January 2, 2004. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) collected this data, which records dust events over a 33-minute period surrounding the comet flyby.

Use Cases

• Modeling dust flux and particle distribution around a comet based on recorded impact events.
• Analyzing temporal patterns of dust encounters during a spacecraft flyby.
• Calibrating or validating dust sensor instrument performance based on real mission data.

Strengths

• Data covers a specific 33-minute encounter period with comet Wild 2.
• Records direct measurements from a dedicated dust flux monitor instrument on a NASA spacecraft.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected by the Dust Flux Monitor Instrument (DFMI) on the STARDUST spacecraft.

Time Range

January 2, 2004, spanning a 33-minute period.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 13:51:30.500230; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Space, during encounter with comet Wild 2.