Stardust comet sample return, computer artwork. Stardust sample return capsule (SRC) parachuting down to Earth in 2006. The Stardust spacecraft collected samples of comet dust from Comet Wild-2 on 2 January 2004. Stardust will return to Earth in January 2006, when it will release the SRC that contains the comet dust. The SRC will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere protected by a heat shield, and then its parachute will deploy. Cometary dust is studied because it is a sample of material from the formation of the solar system. Stardust was launched in February 1999.