It is expected to deliver microscopic samples from Comet Wild-2, which it will swoop near in 2004, as well as interstellar particles captured near the asteroid belt.
"Ideally, everything will work, but my guess is we'll have some lessons learned and then we'll have over a year to fix it before we get to Comet Wild-2, " said Stardust mission director Tom Duxbury.
In 2004, the probe called Stardust swung by a comet called Wild2, stuck out sort of a big catcher's mitt--I think it looks more like a tennis racket--and hopefully it picked up some of the particles thrown off by the comet.