A comet hurdles through the deep blackness of space. A spacecraft whizzes by at a speed of 14,000 mph, taking hits from the comet’s many particles. A capsule deploys from the spacecraft and carries the comet’s pieces back to Earth.

Behind all of this is ISU alumna Jill Cattrysse-Larson.

Cattrysse-Larson, a 2003 aerospace engineering graduate, works as a systems engineer for spacecrafts and oversees subsystem operations for Lockheed Martin in Denver. In other words, Cattrysse-Larson makes sure different systems of a spacecraft are working together to complete a task or a mission.

Since January 2004, Cattrysse-Larson has been working with the Stardust Mission, a project which sent a spacecraft to collect particles from the Comet Wild 2.

The Stardust spacecraft launched in February 1999 to travel nearly two astronomical units – 186 million miles – to Wild 2. Stardust reached Wild 2 in January 2004. It passed through the coma, or tail, of the comet with a honeycomb-like grid filled with a gel-like substance called aerogel.

This gel was used to capture pieces of the comet which impacted at six times the speed of a bullet. Because aerogel is the most lightweight existing solid, it can stop very small particles traveling at high speeds without the particles breaking down.

After collecting samples of the comet, a capsule detached from Stardust and landed safely on Earth Jan. 15. Scientists at Lockheed Martin are beginning to study the trails left in the aerogel, which lead to the particles.

Cattrysse-Larson said collecting samples of a comet can help scientists theorize about the origins of the solar system.

“The current theory is that comets were formed around the time when our solar system was formed,” she said. “Their makeup is basically then made up of substances that our solar system was made of.

“They’re hoping to find out, basically, the birth of the solar system and whatever particles they can find in the comet. It’s kind of a time capsule for creating the solar system. It’s sort of a history lesson based on what they find in the comet tail.”

Dale Chimenti, professor in aerospace engineering, remembers Cattrysse-Larson from when she worked on her senior project with him in 2003.

“She was an outstanding student – very committed,” Chimenti said. “And the thing I thought was really special about Jill [Cattrysse-Larson] is that she had an enormous amount of determination. She just didn’t let anything stand in her way.”

Chimenti said Cattrysse-Larson’s determination can be seen in her co-op with NASA. Cattrysse-Larson wanted to work at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., one of NASA’s locations that did not offer co-op opportunities.

“She pushed the organization and got one established, and she was the first occupant of a NASA co-op program which now continues,” Chimenti said.

Cattrysse-Larson worked with NASA for three semesters and two summers before graduating. Now, along with working at Lockheed Martin, she attends graduate school at the University of Colorado.

Although going into space herself was something she thought she wanted, Cattrysse-Larson is holding off on space travel for now.

“If I had the opportunity I would definitely go,” she said. “But I really enjoy what I’m doing now.”

Stardust is currently in orbit around the sun and is up for future missions.