RAF MILDENHALL, England — NASA is in the midst of a cosmic dust collection mission here — one that scientists say yields not only clues about the history of the solar system but also information on how bacteria jump from continent to continent.

A flight crew from Johnson Space Center in Houston arrived at Mildenhall on Oct. 8 to begin a monthlong operation, which involves sending a two-man team in a WB-57 aircraft to an altitude of 50,000 feet to capture the microscopic particles.

Since 1981, the space agency has been gathering and cataloging cosmic dust — remnants of asteroids and comets — that linger in the stratosphere. It began operating out of Mildenhall in 2005 to expand its collection area.

Not only do samples from different locations improve research, but England is so far north, "it’s easier to get to the stratosphere," said Andy Roberts, director of airborne science at NASA.

The space dust collection mission is focused on extraterrestrial particles, which are so rare that typically only one is collected for each hour the aircraft is in flight. Still, it’s these particles that are helping scientists piece together the origins of the solar system.

They are the "raw materials from which the planets and the sun were formed," said Mike Zolensky, the project’s chief investigator.

Unlike the planets, cosmic dust exists in its original state, which is why it’s so valuable to researchers, he said.

Along with the space dust, the aircraft also collects microscopic terrestrial dust such as volcanic ash and particles laden with bacteria from the earth. Scientists from around the world use NASA’s dust catalog to study everything from disease to climatology, Zolensky said.