| Date | Time | Event | Remarks |
| Nov. 16, 2005 | - | trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) | |
| Jan. 5, 2006 | - | trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) | this maneuver is "planned only" |
| Jan. 13, 2006 | - | trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) | this maneuver is "planned only" |
| Jan. 14, 2006 | - | contingency maneuver | this maneuver is "planned if necessary" only as it should be performed only if the mission navigators deem it necessary |
| 7 a.m. | a final teleconference is held to decide about if all is "go". If the case, the craft is radioed to start a series of commands to release the sample capsule | |
| entry minus 3.7 hours | if the navigators and mission planners feel that the craft and/or the sample capsule are not on target, a plan B will send Stardust into a 3.5/4-year backup orbit, bringing the craft back for another re-entry | |
| 10:57 p.m. | sample capsule released (Stardust is 68,805 miles (110,278 km) from Earth) | the capsule, after the separation is spinned at 14 to 16 revolutions per minute to help stabilization. The capsule is on a purely ballistic trajectory |
| ab. 11:12 p.m. | Stardust fires its thrusters 15 mn after separation in a divert maneuver which keeps it from hitting Earth | Stardust is put in an orbit around the Sun |
| Jan. 15, 2006 | 2:57 a.m. | the capsule, after a 4-hour free flight enters Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of 410,000 ft (125 km). Speed is 28,600 mph (46,000 km/h), being the fastest speed for any re-entering craft so far | figures of altitude are expressed above mean sea level. For accurate measurements, the Utah Test & Training Range is at an elevation of about 4,000 ft (1,220m) |
| instants following 2:57 a.m. | the radar and other tracking assets of the Utah Test & Training Range are acquiring the incoming capsule | |
| entry + 38 seconds | the capsule has covered half the horizontal distance to the landing site. Aerodynamic friction makes infrared tracking a possibility | |
| entry + 52 seconds | peak heating (temperature at the heat shield is 4,900°. F -2,700° C). The capsule is at an altitude of 200,000 ft (61 km) | |
| entry + 1mn 2 s | peak deceleration. The capsule, then, is experimenting 38 G's | |
| entry + 1mn 56 s | the deceleration forces ease down to 3 G's. This triggers a timer | |
| entry + 2mn 12 s | the timer triggered by deceleration triggers in turn a mortar to fire, deploying a drogue parachute. The altitude is 20 miles (32 km) and nearly overhead of the landing zone. Speed is about Mach 1.4 | |
| entry + 3mn | the altitude is 15 miles (24 km). Beginning of the vertical descent over Utah Test & Training Range | |
| entry + 4mn | the capsule enters the range's special-use airspace at an altitude of 11 miles (17 km) | |
| - | as the capsule reaches an altitude of about 10,000 ft (3 km), the capsule cuts one of the lines holding the drogue chute. This allow the drogue chute to extract a larger parachute | at this time, the capsule activate its UHF locator beacon too. The beacon has batteries allowing to a beaming during 20 hrs after impact |
| ab. 3:12 a.m. | touchdown! The speed at touchdown is 14.8 ft per second (4.5 m/s) -that is 10 mph (16 km/h) | when the impact of the landing is sensed, a cutter releases the main chute, preventing it from dragging the capsule along |
| |
. the landing footprint (the "landing ellipse") for the sample return capsule is 27 x 47 miles (44 x 76 km), allowing enough for aerodynamic uncertainties and winds found in the atmosphere
. the Utak Test & Training Range, under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Air Force, is the largest overland contiguous block of restricted airspace in the continental USA, with 2,624 square miles (6,800 km2 It provides room for supersonic flight, aircrew training and weapons testing. Hill AFB, 50 miles West of the range, is associated with it. It's at Hill AFB that the range's mission control center for Stardust mission is located
. the range, outside the airspace, is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army, Dugway Proving Ground, which serves as a chemical and biological defense proving ground. An Air Force building at Michael AAF is home to the temporary clean room used to house the return capsule after its found back and before it's handed to NASA's Johnson Space Center, TX |
