3D Fluorescent and Reflective Imaging of Whole Stardust Tracks in Aerogel
- AMNH
The NASA Stardust mission returned to earth in 2006 with the cometary collector having captured over 1,000 particles in an aerogel medium at a relative velocity of 6.1 km/s. Particles captured in aerogel were heated, disaggregated and dispersed along 'tracks' or cavities in aerogel, singular tracks representing a history of one capture event. It has been our focus to chemically and morphologically characterize whole tracks in 3-dimensions, utilizing solely non-destructive methods. To this end, we have used a variety of methods: 3D Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy (LSCM), synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (SXRF), and synchrotron X-ray diffraction (SXRD). In the past months we have developed two new techniques to aid in data collection. (1) We have received a new confocal microscope which has enabled autofluorescent and spectral imaging of aerogel samples. (2) We have developed a stereo-SXRF technique to chemically identify large grains in SXRF maps in 3-space. The addition of both of these methods to our analytic abilities provides a greater understanding of the mechanisms and results of track formation.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- NSFNASA
- OSTI ID:
- 1023026
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 42nd Lunar and Planetary Society Conference;March 7-11,2011;Woodlands, TX
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- ENGLISH
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