NASA’s Stardust spacecraft ended its seven-year voyage January 15 after a safe landing on earth, bringing back a capsule of comet particles and samples of interstellar dust that exceeded the loftiest of expectations of mission scientists. The ensuing studies of the cosmic treasure are expected to shed light on the origins of the solar system and earth itself.
As the success of the low-budget, 10-year Stardust project hit headlines around the world, the project’s initiator and chief supervisor, Chinese-American scientist Peter Tsou, however, failed to become a media focus.
Tsou, 65, an astronomer who has concentrated on achieving a sample return of cometary coma material (the gas and dust enveloping an active comet’s nucleus) for the past two decades, first forwarded the blueprint of this program to NASA in 1981. It wasn’t accepted until 1986, his 13th attempt.
“Stardust is the realization of a 25-year dream to capture and return samples from a comet,” Tsou told China’s official Xinhua News Agency in a recent interview.
The cargo carried by the 100-pound sample container is comprised of up to a million particles collected from the very edge of the solar system. While astronomers had expected mostly microscopic samples, a surprising number of the particles were large enough to be seen with the naked eye.
Born on the Chinese mainland, Tsou moved to Taiwan with his family in the early 1950s and left to study in the United States as a middle school student in 1956. He has worked for NASA since receiving his doctorate from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Although NASA usually lets the scientist who comes up with the proposal lead the research team, Tsou missed the title when it was given to his peer scientist Donald Brownlee. Due to Tsou’s predominant engagement in the design and implementation of the program, he was given the title deputy principal investigator, which is unique in NASA history.
Feelings of injustice overwhelmed Tsou as he became the “dust of a star,” with his peer scientist receiving the attention amid the eventual success of the plan.
Tsou attributed the treatment partly to his Chinese origin. “You need to be extra diligent as a scientist of Chinese origin in the United States,” he said. “If an American researcher can get recognition by publishing three papers, then a Chinese researcher has to publish six.”
He also blamed his national identity for the failure of his other plans to grab attention. He said he would be more than happy to participate in China’s space exploration venture, which he believes would make his achievements more noticeable.
“Tiny samples from a distant comet open giant windows of our past.”Peter Tsou“Peter Tsou, while not being appointed as the principal investigator of this mission due to his minority background, has proved his capability and credibility with his achievements. The success of the Stardust program is the pride of Chinese people around the world.”Editorial of Beijing-based Huasheng News “Comets are some of the most informative occupants of the solar system. The more we can learn from science exploration missions like Stardust, the more we can prepare for human exploration to the moon, Mars and beyond.”Mary Cleave Associate Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate“Much of the earth’s water and organics perhaps came from comets. This [collection of comet dust] can give us a history of organics in the solar system.” Michael Zolensky Stardust team member