Accompanying them on two microchips were the 25,000 names of The National Space Society (NSS), along with over 1 million others, that were collected by the NSS in a campaign sponsored by Paramount Pictures; Dreamworks Pictures; and The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena. The "Make An Impact" promotion, which began with the release of the summer 1998 blockbuster "Deep Impact," collected names electronically through both the NSS and JPL websites as well as at events organised by some of the worldwide chapters of the National Space Society.

Also sending their names to the comet were the members of the cast and crew of "Deep Impact" including actress Tea Leoni and actor Morgan Freeman, U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher, chairman of the House subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, and shuttle astronaut Roger Crouch. In addition, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund contributed the names of the 58,000 Americans killed in the Vietnam War.

STARDUST, a mission that is reported to cost some $150 million, is scheduled to rendezvous with comet "Wild-2" in 2004, collecting samples as it flies past at over 70,000 miles per hour.

This is the first U.S. mission dedicated solely to a comet, and is expected to see the first robotic return of extraterrestrial material from outside the orbit of the Moon. Its primary goal is to collect comet dust and interstellar material streaming into the solar system from the direction of Sagittarius. These materials consist of ancient pre-solar interstellar gains and nebular condensates including remnants left over from the formation of the solar system. Their analysis is expected to yield important insights into the evolution of the sun and planets and possibly into the origin of life itself. The more optimistic of us are hoping that it will lead to an understanding of the origins of the surname Meacock!