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Fullerenes in an impact crater on the LDEF spacecraftThe fullerenes C60 and C70 have been found to occur naturally on Earth and have also been invoked to explain features in the absorption spectra of interstellar clouds. But no definitive spectroscopic evidence exists for fullerenes in space and attempts to find fullerenes in carbonaceous chondrites have been unsuccessful. Here we report the observation of fullerenes associated with carbonaceous impact residue in a crater on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) spacecraft. Laser ionization mass spectrometry and Raman spectroscopy indicate the presence of fullerenes in the crater and in adjacent ejecta. Man-made fullerenes survive experimental hypervelocity (approximately 6.1 km s-1) impacts into aluminium targets, suggesting that space fullerenes contained in a carbonaceous micrometeorite could have survived the LDEF impact at velocities towards the lower end of the natural particle encounter range (<13 km s-1). We also demonstrate that the fullerenes were unlikely to have formed as instrumental artefacts, nor are they present as contaminants. Although we cannot specify the origin of the fullerenes with certainty, the most plausible source is the chondritic impactor. If, alternatively, the impact produced the fullerenes in situ on LDEF, then this suggests a viable mechanism for fullerene production in space.
Document ID
20040089287
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Radicati di Brozolo, F.
(Charles Evans and Associates, Redwood City, California 94063, United States)
Bunch, T. E.
Fleming, R. H.
Macklin, J.
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
May 5, 1994
Publication Information
Publication: Nature
Volume: 369
ISSN: 0028-0836
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
long duration
NASA Discipline Exobiology
unmanned
LDEF Project
Flight Experiment
NASA Center ARC

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