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Maria Antonietta Barucci,
A. F. Cheng,
P. Michel,
L. A. M. Benner,
R. P. Binzel,
P. A. Bland,
H. Böhnhardt,
J. R. Brucato,
A. Campo Bagatin,
P. Cerroni, [......],
B. Marty,
K. Muinonen,
A. Nathues,
J. Oberst,
A. S. Rivkin,
F. Robert,
R. Saladino,
J. M. Trigo-Rodriguez,
S. Ulamec, M. Zolensky
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: MarcoPolo-R is a sample return mission to a primitive Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) proposed in collaboration with NASA. It will
rendezvous with a primitive NEA, scientifically characterize it at multiple scales, and return a unique sample to Earth unaltered
by the atmospheric entry process or terrestrial weathering. MarcoPolo-R will return bulk samples (up to 2kg) from an organic-rich
binary asteroid to Earth for laboratory analyses, allowing us to: explore the origin of planetary materials and initial stages
of habitable planet formation; identify and characterize the organics and volatiles in a primitive asteroid; understand the
unique geomorphology, dynamics and evolution of a binary NEA. This project is based on the previous Marco Polo mission study,
which was selected for the Assessment Phase of the first round of Cosmic Vision. Its scientific rationale was highly ranked
by ESA committees and it was not selected only because the estimated cost was higher than the allotted amount for an M class
mission. The cost of MarcoPolo-R will be reduced to within the ESA medium mission budget by collaboration with APL (John Hopkins
University) and JPL in the NASA program for coordination with ESA’s Cosmic Vision Call. The baseline target is a binary asteroid
(175706) 1996 FG3, which offers a very efficient operational and technical mission profile. A binary target also provides
enhanced science return. The choice of this target will allow new investigations to be performed more easily than at a single
object, and also enables investigations of the fascinating geology and geophysics of asteroids that are impossible at a single
object. Several launch windows have been identified in the time-span 2020–2024. A number of other possible primitive single
targets of high scientific interest have been identified covering a wide range of possible launch dates. The baseline mission
scenario of MarcoPolo-R to 1996 FG3 is as follows: a single primary spacecraft provided by ESA, carrying the Earth Re-entry
Capsule, sample acquisition and transfer system provided by NASA, will be launched by a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from Kourou into
GTO and using two space segment stages. Two similar missions with two launch windows, in 2021 and 2022 and for both sample
return in 2029 (with mission duration of 7 and 8years), have been defined. Earlier or later launches, in 2020 or 2024, also
offer good opportunities. All manoeuvres are carried out by a chemical propulsion system. MarcoPolo-R takes advantage of three
industrial studies completed as part of the previous Marco Polo mission (see ESA/SRE (2009)3, Marco Polo Yellow Book) and
of the expertise of the consortium led by Dr. A.F. Cheng (PI of the NASA NEAR Shoemaker mission) of the JHU-APL, including
JPL, NASA ARC, NASA LaRC, and MIT.
KeywordsAstrobiology–Near-Earth Asteroid–Origin–Primitive material–Sample return mission–Re-entry capsule
Experimental Astronomy 04/2012; · 1.82 Impact Factor
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[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: We report the discovery of partially halogen-substituted methane present in Monahans halites. The methane is associated with carbonaceous inclusions from the halite parent body and preserves light organics distributed through the early Solar System.
75th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society. 01/2012; 75:5381.
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74th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society. 01/2011; 74:5390.
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[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Instrumentation and Techniques SymposiaStructures of Extraterrestrial Minerals Revealed by EBSDArticle author queryzolensky m [PubMed]
[Google Scholar]mikouchi t [PubMed]
[Google Scholar]M Zolenskya1 and T Mikouchia2a1 NASA Johnson Space Center
Microscopy and Microanalysis 06/2010; 16:676 - 677. · 3.01 Impact Factor
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[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Abstract— During preliminary examination of 81P/Wild 2 particles collected by the NASA Stardust spacecraft, we analyzed seven, sulfur embedded and ultramicrotomed particles extracted from five different tracks. Sections were analyzed using a scanning transmission X-ray microscope (SXTM) and carbon X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectra were collected. We compared the carbon XANES spectra of these Wild 2 samples with a database of spectra on thirty-four interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and with several meteorites. Two of the particles analyzed are iron sulfides and there is evidence that an aliphatic compound associated with these particles can survive high temperatures. An iron sulfide from an IDP demonstrates the same phenomenon. Another, mostly carbon free containing particle radiation damaged, something we have not observed in any IDPs we have analyzed or any indigenous organic matter from the carbonaceous meteorites, Tagish Lake, Orgueil, Bells and Murchison. The carbonaceous material associated with this particle showed no mass loss during the initial analysis but chemically changed over a period of two months. The carbon XANES spectra of the other four particles varied more than spectra from IDPs and indigenous organic matter from meteorites. Comparison of the carbon XANES spectra from these particles with 1. the carbon XANES spectra from thirty-four IDPs (<15 micron in size) and 2. the carbon XANES spectra from carbonaceous material from the Tagish Lake, Orgueil, Bells, and Murchison meteorites show that 81P/Wild 2 carbon XANES spectra are more similar to IDP carbon XANES spectra then to the carbon XANES spectra of meteorites.
Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 01/2010; 44(10):1611 - 1626.
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A. J. Westphal,
J. von Korff,
D. P. Anderson,
A. Alexander,
B. Betts,
D. E. Brownlee,
A. L. Butterworth,
N. Craig,
Z. Gainsforth,
B. Mendez,
T. See,
C. J. Snead,
R. Srama,
S. Tsitrin,
J. Warren, M. Zolensky
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: We describe Stardust@home (S@H), a project with the goal of identifying
interstellar dust in the Stardust Interstellar Tray using volunteers. We
present measurements of the performance the S@H Virtual Microscope using
inexperienced volunteers.
02/2006; 37:2225.
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M. Zolensky,
Philip A. Bland,
J. Bradley,
A. Brearley,
S. Brennan,
D. Brownlee,
A. L. Butterworth,
Z. Dai,
D. Ebel,
M. Genge, [......],
M. Taheri,
K. Tomeoka,
A. Toppani,
P. Tsou,
A. Tsuchiyama,
I. Webber,
M. Weisberg,
A. Westphal,
H. Yano,
T. Zega
Lunar and Planetary Science ConferenceLunar and Planetary Science Conference, USA; 01/2006
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[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: The Tagish Lake meteorite is a highly carbonaceous meteorite, with a carbon content of approximately 5% by weight [1]. Its composition and mineralogy suggest it lies between a CI1 and CM2 chondrite [2]. Part of the meteorite [the pristine fraction] was collected from the ice on Tagish Lake within one week of its landfall on Jan. 18, 2000 and this sample is considered to be the most pristine meteorite samples collected to date with regard to organic terrestrial contamination. It has been reported that only 100 ppm of the organic matter in the Tagish Lake meteorite is water soluble [3]. greater absorbance in the sigma bonding region between 290-300 eV suggesting that the soluble material contains more CH/CH2/CH3 bonds than the microtomed piece.
02/2005;
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Brownlee,
D.~E,
F. Horz,
Newburn,
R.~L, M. Zolensky,
Duxbury,
T.~C,
S. Sandford,
Z. Sekanina,
P. Tsou,
Hanner,
M.~S,
Clark,
B.~C,
Green,
S.~F,
J. Kissel
Science. 06/2004; 304:1764-1769.
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[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: The NASA Stardust comet sample return mission is proceeding very well, and the science team breathed a collective sigh of relief following the successful comet sample collection phase which occurred during a 6.1 km/s, 340km-close flyby of comet Wild-2 on Jan 2 of this year. Multiple images of the comet nucleus were obtained and a variety of onboard instruments returned in situ data on the spatial distribution, particle size frequency and composition of the dust in the comet s coma. These data are currently being processed and analyzed. It is expected that 500-1000 comet particles >15 m were collected by impact into low density silica aerogel, as well as many more smaller grains. Previous tests with hypervelocity guns firing small particles into aerogel indicate that material should have successfully been collected by the Stardust aerogel [1&2]. In addition, many (~100) grains of interstellar material newly entering the Solar System should have been collected by the spacecraft during its cruise phase to the comet.
02/2004;
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[show abstract]
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ABSTRACT: Iron-nickel sulfides are found in most or all solar system environments, and are probably the only minerals found in all extraterrestrial materials on hand. Despite the ubiquity, they have not received the attention they deserve. The most common Fe-Ni sulfides in chondrites are troilite (FeS), pyrrhotite (Fe1- XS) and pentlandite (Fe,Ni)9S8. Troilite is believed to have resulted from sulfidation of metal (Fe-Ni) grains in an H2Scontaining environment. Pyrrhotite is produced when friable troilite grains, which are exfoliated from the metal nucleus, are submitted to continued sulfidation [1]. Some asteroids are known to have experienced aqueous alteration, forming products including new generations of sulfides (pyrrhotite and pentlandite). Pentlandite in particular is known to form during such alteration [1]. However, experimental work by Lauretta has indicated that pentlandite may also have been formed during the initial sulfidation process [2], due to the faster diffusion rate of nickel into the forming sulfide, as compared to iron. Finally, there is considerable evidence [1,3&4] for a family of phases intermediate between pyrrhotite and pentlandite, following the trend of the high temperature monosulfide solid solution [5], something not encountered in terrestrial rocks.
02/2004;
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Meteoritics and Planetary Science Supplement. 08/2001; 36:207.
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[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: The ability of living organisms to survive on the smaller bodies in our solar system is examined. The three most significant sterilizing effects include ionizing radiation, prolonged extreme vacuum, and relentless thermal inactivation. Each could be effectively lethal, and even more so in combination, if organisms at some time resided in the surfaces of airless small bodies located near or in the inner solar system. Deep within volatile-rich bodies, certain environments theoretically might provide protection of dormant organisms against these sterilizing factors. Sterility of surface materials to tens or hundreds of centimeters of depth appears inevitable, and to greater depths for bodies which have resided for long periods sunward of about 2 A.U.
Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres 11/1999; 29(5):521-45. · 2.66 Impact Factor
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[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: We have produced thin veneers of crystalline to frothy projectile
residues (where the projectiles varied from dunite, diopside, orthoclase
or basalt cylinders) within small cm-sized craters formed in metal
targets (where the targets varied from 1100 Al, Cu, SS304 or Mo). The
morphology and mixing of the silicate residue with metal spherules is
similar to that described in many natural impact melts including lunar
samples, terrestrial impact crater melts and tektites, and shock
features in some meteorites. Textural and chemical analysis suggests
that local regions of these residues experienced high temperature
gradients, fast rates of nucleation and crystal growth and minimal, but
selective oxidation/reduction. Such inferences should help decipher the
heterogeneous evolution of impact melts in terrestrial and
extraterrestrial samples.
02/1996; 27:1109.
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D. E. Brownlee,
D. Burnett,
B. Clark,
M. S. Hanner,
F. Horz,
J. Kissel,
R. Newburn,
S. Sandford,
Z. Sekanina,
P. Tsou, M. Zolensky
104:223.
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- 41.
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Michael Küppers,
Horst Uwe Keller,
Ekkehard Kührt,
Michael A'Hearn,
Kathrin Altwegg,
R. Bertrand,
H. Busemann,
M.T. Capria,
L. Colangeli,
B. Davidsson, [......],
S. Szutowicz,
C. Tornow,
S. Ulamec,
M. Wallis,
W. Waniak,
P. Weissman,
R. Wieler,
P. Wurz,
K. L. Yung,
J. C. Zarnecki
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: The Triple F (Fresh From the Fridge) mission, a Comet Nucleus Sample Return, has been proposed to ESA’s Cosmic Vision program. A sample return from a comet enables us to reach the ultimate goal of cometary research. Since comets are the least processed bodies in the solar system, the proposal goes far beyond cometary science topics (like the explanation of cometary activity) and delivers invaluable information about the formation of the solar system and the interstellar molecular cloud from which it formed. The proposed mission would extract three sample cores of the upper 50 cm from three locations on a cometary nucleus and return them cooled to Earth for analysis in the laboratory. The simple mission concept with a touch-and-go sampling by a single spacecraft was proposed as an M-class mission in collaboration with the Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS.
Experimental Astronomy 23(2009-3):809-847. · 1.82 Impact Factor
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M. Küppers,
H. U. Keller,
E. Kührt,
M. F. A'Hearn,
K. Altwegg,
R. Bertrand,
H. Busemann,
M. T. Capria,
L. Colangeli,
B. Davidsson, [......],
S. Szutowicz,
C. Tornow,
S. Ulamec,
M. Wallis,
W. Waniak,
P. Weissman,
R. Wieler,
P. Wurz,
K. L. Yung,
J. C. Zarnecki
Experimental Astronomy, v.23, 809-847 (2009).
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Michael Küppers,
H. U. Keller,
E. Kührt,
M. F. A’Hearn,
K. Altwegg,
R. Bertrand,
H. Busemann,
M. T. Capria,
L. Colangeli,
B. Davidsson, [......],
S. Szutowicz,
C. Tornow,
S. Ulamec,
M. Wallis,
W. Waniak,
P. Weissman,
R. Wieler,
P. Wurz,
K. L. Yung,
J. C. Zarnecki
[show abstract]
[hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: The Triple F (Fresh From the Fridge) mission, a Comet Nucleus Sample Return, has been proposed to ESA’s Cosmic Vision program. A sample return from a comet enables us to reach the ultimate goal of cometary research. Since comets are the least processed bodies in the solar system, the proposal goes far beyond cometary science topics (like the explanation of cometary activity) and delivers invaluable information about the formation of the solar system and the interstellar molecular cloud from which it formed. The proposed mission would extract three sample cores of the upper 50 cm from three locations on a cometary nucleus and return them cooled to Earth for analysis in the laboratory. The simple mission concept with a touch-and-go sampling by a single spacecraft was proposed as an M-class mission in collaboration with the Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS.
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D. Brownlee,
P. Tsou,
J. Aleon,
C. M. O. Alexander,
T Araki,
S. Bajt,
G. A. Baratta,
R. Bastien,
P. Bland,
P. Bleuet, [......],
I. Wright,
H. Yabuta,
H Yano,
E. D. Young,
R N Zare,
T. Zega,
K. Ziegler,
L. Zimmerman,
E. Zinner, M. Zolensky
Science, v.314, 1711-1716 (2006).
