scholarly journals The Inner Solar System Chronology (ISOCHRON) Lunar Sample Return Mission Concept: Revealing Two Billion Years of History

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
David S. Draper ◽  
Samuel J. Lawrence ◽  
Rachel S. Klima ◽  
Brett W. Denevi ◽  
Carolyn H. van der Bogert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Lunar Sample ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Sample Return Mission

scholarly journals A unique basaltic micrometeorite expands the inventory of solar system planetary crusts

2009 ◽  
Vol 106 (17) ◽  
pp. 6904-6909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthieu Gounelle ◽  
Marc Chaussidon ◽  
Alessandro Morbidelli ◽  
Jean-Alix Barrat ◽  
Cécile Engrand ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Mineral Chemistry ◽  
Carbonaceous Chondrites ◽  
Isotopic Data ◽  
Solar System Formation ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Dust Transport ◽  
Element Abundances ◽  
Transport Dynamics ◽  
Sample Return Mission

Micrometeorites with diameter ≈100–200 μm dominate the flux of extraterrestrial matter on Earth. The vast majority of micrometeorites are chemically, mineralogically, and isotopically related to carbonaceous chondrites, which amount to only 2.5% of meteorite falls. Here, we report the discovery of the first basaltic micrometeorite (MM40). This micrometeorite is unlike any other basalt known in the solar system as revealed by isotopic data, mineral chemistry, and trace element abundances. The discovery of a new basaltic asteroidal surface expands the solar system inventory of planetary crusts and underlines the importance of micrometeorites for sampling the asteroids' surfaces in a way complementary to meteorites, mainly because they do not suffer dynamical biases as meteorites do. The parent asteroid of MM40 has undergone extensive metamorphism, which ended no earlier than 7.9 Myr after solar system formation. Numerical simulations of dust transport dynamics suggest that MM40 might originate from one of the recently discovered basaltic asteroids that are not members of the Vesta family. The ability to retrieve such a wealth of information from this tiny (a few micrograms) sample is auspicious some years before the launch of a Mars sample return mission.

scholarly journals STARDUST: Comet and Interstellar Dust Sample Return Mission

1996 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 223-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.E. Brownlee ◽  
D. Burnett ◽  
B. Clark ◽  
M. S. Hanner ◽  
F. Horz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Interstellar Dust ◽  
Dust Sample ◽  
Flux Monitor ◽  
Microporous Silica ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Cometary Dust ◽  
Dust Flux ◽  
Sample Return Mission

AbstractSTARDUST, a Discovery-class mission, will return intact samples of cometary dust and volatiles from comet P/Wild 2, as well as samples of the interstellar dust moving through the solar system. Dust capture utilizes aerogel, a microporous silica that is capable of intact capture of hypervelocity particles. A navigation camera, an in situ dust analyzer, and a dust flux monitor complete the payload. The Wild 2 flyby takes place in January 2004, with Earth return in January 2006.

Scientific Objectives and Payloads of the Lunar Sample Return Mission—Chang’E-5

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Changyi Zhou ◽  
Yingzhuo Jia ◽  
Jianzhong Liu ◽  
Huijun Li ◽  
Yu Fan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lunar Sample ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Sample Return Mission

Astromaterials Research of Comet Wild 2: Terameters to Nanometers

MRS Bulletin ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Elemental Abundance ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Isotopic Abundance ◽  
Solar System Formation ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
X Ray ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cometary Material ◽  
Sample Return Mission

AbstractStardust, a NASA sample return mission, safely landed in the Utah desert in January 2006 after a seven-year mission, bringing with it the first cometary material from a known parent source, Comet 81P/Wild 2. One of the mission goals is to determine the starting material of the solar system. By sampling a comet, which has spent most of the past 4.6 Gyr beyond the orbit of Neptune, we expect to measure material presumed to be unaffected by the ignition of the sun. The Stardust spacecraft swept through the tail of the comet, collecting hundreds of micron-sized particles from that stream into aerogel, a low-density silica foam. An international team of materials scientists have studied the mineralogy, petrology, and elemental and isotopic abundance of these materials. Our group has studied elemental abundance using an x-ray microprobe; the morphology of the particles was examined using an x-ray microscope, which enables nanotomography of the particles while encased in aerogel. The unexpected conclusions are that much of the material from this comet was formed near the sun, after its ignition, and soon thereafter transported to the outer reaches of the solar system. These results have changed the way astrophysicists think about solar system formation.

scholarly journals Detailed Morphologic Mapping and Traverse Planning for a Rover-based Lunar Sample Return Mission to Schrödinger Basin

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Zachary R. Morse ◽  
Gordon R. Osinski ◽  
Livio L. Tornabene ◽  
Matthew Bourassa ◽  
Michael Zanetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lunar Sample ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Sample Return Mission

scholarly journals Sample return of primitive matter from the outer Solar System

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Vernazza ◽  
P. Beck ◽  
O. Ruesch ◽  
A. Bischoff ◽  
L. Bonal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Giant Planet ◽  
Small Diameter ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
Outer Solar System ◽  
Small Bodies ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Sample Return Mission

AbstractThe last thirty years of cosmochemistry and planetary science have shown that one major Solar System reservoir is vastly undersampled in the available suite of extra-terrestrial materials, namely small bodies that formed in the outer Solar System (>10 AU). Because various dynamical evolutionary processes have modified their initial orbits (e.g., giant planet migration, resonances), these objects can be found today across the entire Solar System as P/D near-Earth and main-belt asteroids, Jupiter and Neptune Trojans, comets, Centaurs, and small (diameter < 200 km) trans-Neptunian objects. This reservoir is of tremendous interest, as it is recognized as the least processed since the dawn of the Solar System and thus the closest to the starting materials from which the Solar System formed. Some of the next major breakthroughs in planetary science will come from studying outer Solar System samples (volatiles and refractory constituents) in the laboratory. Yet, this can only be achieved by an L-class mission that directly collects and returns to Earth materials from this reservoir. It is thus not surprising that two White Papers advocating a sample return mission of a primitive Solar System small body (ideally a comet) were submitted to ESA in response to its Voyage 2050 call for ideas for future L-class missions in the 2035-2050 time frame. One of these two White Papers is presented in this article.

Challenges and options for an affordable small Lunar Sample Return Mission

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Adam M. Baker ◽  
Andy Phipps ◽  
Martin Sweeting ◽  
Alex Ellery ◽  
Yang Gao
Keyword(s):  
Lunar Sample ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Sample Return Mission

scholarly journals Exploring the Bimodal Solar System via Sample Return from the Main Asteroid Belt: The Case for Revisiting Ceres

2020 ◽  
Vol 216 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas H. Burbine ◽  
Richard C. Greenwood
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Asteroid Belt ◽  
Early Solar System ◽  
Main Belt ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Dawn Mission ◽  
Overwhelming Evidence ◽  
Sample Return Mission ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Cost Implications

Abstract Sample return from a main-belt asteroid has not yet been attempted, but appears technologically feasible. While the cost implications are significant, the scientific case for such a mission appears overwhelming. As suggested by the “Grand Tack” model, the structure of the main belt was likely forged during the earliest stages of Solar System evolution in response to migration of the giant planets. Returning samples from the main belt has the potential to test such planet migration models and the related geochemical and isotopic concept of a bimodal Solar System. Isotopic studies demonstrate distinct compositional differences between samples believed to be derived from the outer Solar System (CC or carbonaceous chondrite group) and those that are thought to be derived from the inner Solar System (NC or non-carbonaceous group). These two groups are separated on relevant isotopic variation diagrams by a clear compositional gap. The interface between these two regions appears to be broadly coincident with the present location of the asteroid belt, which contains material derived from both groups. The Hayabusa mission to near-Earth asteroid (NEA) (25143) Itokawa has shown what can be learned from a sample-return mission to an asteroid, even with a very small amount of sample. One scenario for main-belt sample return involves a spacecraft launching a projectile that strikes an object and flying through the debris cloud, which would potentially allow multiple bodies to be sampled if a number of projectiles are used on different asteroids. Another scenario is the more traditional method of landing on an asteroid to obtain the sample. A significant range of main-belt asteroids are available as targets for a sample-return mission and such a mission would represent a first step in mineralogically and isotopically mapping the asteroid belt. We argue that a sample-return mission to the asteroid belt does not necessarily have to return material from both the NC and CC groups to viably test the bimodal Solar System paradigm, as material from the NC group is already abundantly available for study. Instead, there is overwhelming evidence that we have a very incomplete suite of CC-related samples. Based on our analysis, we advocate a dedicated sample-return mission to the dwarf planet (1) Ceres as the best means of further exploring inherent Solar System variation. Ceres is an ice-rich world that may be a displaced trans-Neptunian object. We almost certainly do not have any meteorites that closely resemble material that would be brought back from Ceres. The rich heritage of data acquired by the Dawn mission makes a sample-return mission from Ceres logistically feasible at a realistic cost. No other potential main-belt target is capable of providing as much insight into the early Solar System as Ceres. Such a mission should be given the highest priority by the international scientific community.

scholarly journals Hypervelocity Capture of Meteoroids in Aerogel

1996 ◽  
Vol 150 ◽  
pp. 237-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Tsou
Keyword(s):  
Solar System ◽  
Solar Nebula ◽  
Planetary Science ◽  
Laboratory Analysis ◽  
Dust Particles ◽  
Sample Return ◽  
Processing History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sample Return Mission ◽  
Solar System Exploration

Micrometeoroids of cometary or asteroidal origin constitute a unique repository of information concerning the formation and subsequent processing history of materials in the solar nebula. One of the current goals of planetary science is to return samples from a known primitive extraterrestrial body for detailed laboratory analysis (NASA Solar System Exploration Committee, SSEC 1983). Planetary flyby orbital motions dictate that dust particles will approach the spacecraft at relative speeds up to tens of km/s. It has always been thought that these hypervelocity particles could not be captured without melting or vaporizing. We have developed the intact capture technology that enables flyby sample return of these hypervelocity particles. The STARDUST comet sample return mission, selected as the fourth NASA. Discovery mission, capitalizes on this technology (Brownlee et al. 1996).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document