GRAND FORKS (AP) - Scientists and crew members of NASA's DC-8 flying research laboratory based here got a close look at a space probe as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.

After a seven-year journey, the NASA space capsule Stardust landed safely Sunday at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah with tiny comet particles.

Scientists hope the particles will yield clues to how the solar system formed. The capsule's high-temperature plunge from space lit up parts of the Western sky.

Researchers and crew members riding on the Grand Forks-based "flying lab" had the best view, said University of North Dakota space expert George Seielstad.

It was the first scientific mission for the airplane since the University of North Dakota started managing the plane.

"It's wonderful news for us, the University of North Dakota and the scientists we helped," said Seielstad. "Our part was putting a platform up there from which they could observe the re-entry."

The airplane carried about two dozen people, including six crew members from North Dakota, Seielstad said.

The plan was to collect data, including photos and video, of the capsule's re-entry, partly to study how the heat shields performed, Seielstad said. The plane and its payload of equipment also monitored debris from the capsule during re-entry.

UND took over management of the flying lab through a five-year, $25 million contract with NASA in August. The plane had been stationed at the Dryden Flight Research Center in California.

"Since this was our first one, it was extremely important to show that UND could handle this," Seielstad said.

Five of the crew members now in Grand Forks "came with the plane" from California. The sixth is Adam Webster, a Devils Lake native who earned a master's degree in engineering at UND.

Webster was the payload integration engineer on board, Seielstad said. Webster was among those in charge of the logistics of the flying lab.

The flying lab was slated to be at the Grand Forks Air Force base by today.

Seielstad said the flying lab's next mission is to study pollution over Mexico City. That mission is slated for February, he said.