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Electron Beam Analysis of Micrometeoroids Captured in Aerogel as Stardust AnaloguesIn January 2004, NASA s Stardust spacecraft passed through the tail of Comet 81P/Wild-2. The on-board dust flux monitor instrument indicated that numerous micro- and nano-meter sized cometary dust particles were captured by the dedicated silica aerogel capture cell. The collected cometary particles will be returned to Earth in January 2006. Current Stardust analogues are: (i) Light-gas-gun accelerated individual mineral grains and carbonaceous meteoritic material in aerogels at the Stardust encounter velocity ca.approximately 6 kilometers per second. (ii) Aerogels exposed in low-Earth orbit (LEO) containing preserved cosmic dust grains. Studies of these impacts offer insight into the potential state of the captured cometary dust by Stardust and the suitability of various analytical techniques. A number of papers have discussed the application of sophisticated synchrotron analytical techniques to analyze Stardust particles. Yet much of the understanding gained on the composition and mineralogy of interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) has come from electron microscopy studies. Here we discuss the application of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for Stardust during the preliminary phase of post-return investigations.
Document ID
20050169522
Acquisition Source
Headquarters
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Graham, G. A.
(California Univ., San Diego La Jolla, CA, United States)
Sheffield-Parker, J.
(XRT Ltd. Port Melbourne)
Bradley, P.
(California Univ., San Diego La Jolla, CA, United States)
Kearsley, A. T.
(Museum of Natural History London, United Kingdom)
Dai, Z. R.
(California Univ., San Diego La Jolla, CA, United States)
Mayo, S. C.
(Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization Clayton, Australia)
Teslich, N.
(California Univ., San Diego La Jolla, CA, United States)
Snead, C.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Westphal, A. J.
(California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Ishii, H.
(California Univ., San Diego La Jolla, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2005
Publication Information
Publication: Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVI, Part 7
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNH04AB49I
CONTRACT_GRANT: W-7405-eng-48
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-119
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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