New Tasks Given to Old NASA Spacecraft

July 4, 2007 By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer

(AP) -- NASA said Tuesday it is recycling two used spacecraft to lead new robotic missions to study comets and planets around other stars. The encore performances of the Deep Impact and Stardust probes allow the space agency to further its solar system exploration for a fraction of the cost it would take to start a mission from scratch.

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