The Stardust mission was launched on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on February 7, 1999. Its destination was Comet Wild 2, and its objective was to capture grain-sized pieces of the comet’s coma, then return toward Earth. Both on the way to the comet and back, Stardust would capture interplanetary dust grains that it encountered during its journey. The dust grains would then be safely returned to Earth’s surface for study, and the spacecraft would fly on past our planet.