Spacecraft set to capture comet dust

A SPACECRAFT is on track to catch a comet by its tail later this week, capturing hundreds of specks of dust from the shimmering cloud that envelops the ball of ice and rock, according to NASA.

The Stardust spacecraft is expected to fly within 186 miles of comet Wild 2 on Friday, collecting samples and taking photographs 242 million miles from Earth.

During the flyby, Stardust should capture roughly 1,000 particles of dust ripped from Wild 2 (pronounced vilt-two) by streams of gases boiled from the comet’s surface by the warming rays of the sun.