Stardust samples genuine, researchers say
Fears of contamination in comet collection may be overblown.
Recent media reports that certain comet samples returned by the Stardust mission may simply be contamination have been overblown, say researchers.

Comments
I agree, media reports of contamination of Stardust samples are overblown - probably backlash to the finding that comets contain ordinary material that came from the Sun.
We experienced a similar backlash when we reported that the elements trapped in iron sulfide (FeS) from meteorites had isotope compositions like those found in planets rich in iron (Fe) and sulfur (S) - Earth and Mars [Nature 299 (1982) 807-810].
Reports of analysis from the Stardust mission to a comet were intellectually more honest than reports from most of NASA's other missions.
In 1969 NASA first overlooked and then tried to suppress evidence in samples from the Apollo MIssion that the Sun is a plasma diffuser, selectively moving light elements and lightweight isotopes of each element to the solar surface.
http://tinyurl.com/3ydcql
The Genesis Mission promised to tell us the composition of the Sun. I had great hopes that NASA was going to "come clean." But little or nothing of value came from the Genesis Mission.
With kind regards,
Oliver K. Manuel
www.omatumr.com
Posted by: Oliver K. Manuel | May 12, 2007 08:16 AM