Astronomer Scott Sandford from NASA Ames Research Center will present “Bringing Home a Comet: Stardust Mission Update,” a nontechnical, illustrated talk, 7 p.m. March 1 in the Smithwick Theatre at Foothill College.

The Stardust mission included a spacecraft that flew by Comet Wild-2 and collected the first samples from a comet. They were successfully returned to Earth Jan. 15 and are currently being analyzed by NASA scientists.

The spacecraft traveled about 2.9 billion miles over seven years to collect and bring back what may be some of the oldest material in the solar system.

An expert on meteorites and the material between the planets, Sandford is co-investigator on the Stardust mission, and was actively involved in the recovery of the Stardust capsule in the Utah desert. He will discuss what the historic mission accomplished and what the initial analysis of the samples is revealing.

The lecture is presented as part of the 6th Annual Silicon Valley Astronomy Lecture Series sponsored by the Foothill College Astronomy Program, NASA/Ames Research Center, SETI Institute and Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Admission is free and the public is invited. Visitors must purchase a required campus parking permit for $2 (eight quarters).

Foothill College is located at 12345 S. El Monte Road off Interstate 280 in Los Altos Hills.

For more information, visit www.foothill.edu or call 949-7888.