Identification of the Calcium, Aluminum, and Magnesium Distribution within Millimeter-Sized Extraterrestrial Materials Using Nonresonant X-ray Raman Spectroscopy in Preparation for the Hayabusa2 Sample Return Mission

Author(s):  
Pieter Tack ◽  
Ella De Pauw ◽  
Beverley Tkalcec ◽  
Alessandro Longo ◽  
Christoph J. Sahle ◽  
...  
MRS Bulletin ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Brennan

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.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motoo Ito ◽  
Naotaka Tomioka ◽  
Kentaro Uesugi ◽  
Masayuki Uesugi ◽  
Yu Kodama ◽  
...  

Abstract We developed universal sample holders (the Kochi grid, Kochi clamp, and Okazaki cell) and a transfer vessel (facility-to-facility transfer container (FFTC)) to analyze sensitive and fragile samples, such as extremely small extraterrestrial materials. The holders and container prevent degradation, contamination due to terrestrial atmosphere (water vapor and oxygen gas) and small particles, as well as mechanical sample damages. The FFTC can isolate the samples from the effects of the atmosphere for more than a week. The Kochi grid and clamp were made for a coordinate micro/nano-analysis that utilize a focused-ion beam apparatus, transmission electron microscope, and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry. The Okazaki cell was made as an additional attachment for a scanning transmission X-ray microscope that uses near edge X-ray absorption fine structure. The coordinated analysis involving these holders was successfully carried out without any sample damage or loss, thereby enabling us to obtain sufficient quality of analytical datasets of textures, crystallography, elemental/isotopic abundances, and molecular functional groups for µm-sized minerals and organics in both an Antarctic micrometeorite and a carbonaceous chondrite. We will apply the coordinated analysis to acquire the complex characteristics in samples that obtain by the future spacecraft sample return mission.


2018 ◽  
Vol 214 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Masterson ◽  
M. Chodas ◽  
L. Bayley ◽  
B. Allen ◽  
J. Hong ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Motoo Ito ◽  
Naotaka Tomioka ◽  
Kentaro Uesugi ◽  
Masayuki Uesugi ◽  
Yu Kodama ◽  
...  

Abstract We developed universal sample holders [the Kochi grid, Kochi clamp, and Okazaki cell) and a transfer vessel (facility-to-facility transfer container (FFTC)] to analyze sensitive and fragile samples, such as extremely small extraterrestrial materials. The holders and container prevent degradation, contamination due to the terrestrial atmosphere (water vapor and oxygen gas) and small particles, as well as mechanical sample damage. The FFTC can isolate the samples from the effects of the atmosphere for more than a week. The Kochi grid and clamp were made for a coordinated micro/nano-analysis that utilizes a focused-ion beam apparatus, transmission electron microscope, and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry. The Okazaki cell was developed as an additional attachment for a scanning transmission X-ray microscope that uses near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS). These new apparatuses help to minimize possible alterations from the exposure of the samples to air. The coordinated analysis involving these holders was successfully carried out without any sample damage or loss, thereby enabling us to obtain sufficient analytical datasets of textures, crystallography, elemental/isotopic abundances, and molecular functional groups for µm-sized minerals and organics in both the Antarctic micrometeorite and a carbonaceous chondrite. We will apply the coordinated analysis to acquire the complex characteristics in samples obtained by the future spacecraft sample return mission.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motoo Ito ◽  
Naotaka Tomioka ◽  
Kentaro Uesugi ◽  
Masayuki Uesugi ◽  
Yu Kodama ◽  
...  

Abstract We developed universal sample holders (the Kochi grid, Kochi clamp, and Okazaki cell) and a transfer vessel (facility-to-facility transfer container (FFTC)) to analyze sensitive and fragile samples, such as extremely small extraterrestrial materials. The holders and container prevent degradation, contamination due to terrestrial atmosphere (water vapor and oxygen gas) and small particles, as well as mechanical sample damages. The FFTC can isolate the samples from the effects of the atmosphere for more than a week. The Kochi grid and clamp were made for a coordinate micro/nano-analysis that utilize a focused-ion beam apparatus, transmission electron microscope, and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry. The Okazaki cell was made as an additional attachment for a scanning transmission X-ray microscope that uses near edge X-ray absorption fine structure. The coordinated analysis involving these holders was successfully carried out without any sample damage or loss, thereby enabling us to obtain sufficient quality of analytical datasets of textures, crystallography, elemental/isotopic abundances, and molecular functional groups for µm-sized minerals and organics in both an Antarctic micrometeorite and a carbonaceous chondrite. We will apply the coordinated analysis to acquire the complex characteristics in samples that obtain by the future spacecraft sample return mission.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Motoo Ito ◽  
Naotaka Tomioka ◽  
Kentaro Uesugi ◽  
Masayuki Uesugi ◽  
Yu Kodama ◽  
...  

Abstract We developed universal sample holders (the Kochi grid, Kochi clamp, and Okazaki cell) and a transfer vessel (facility-to-facility transfer container (FFTC)) to analyze sensitive and fragile samples, such as extremely small extraterrestrial materials. The holders and container prevent degradation, contamination due to the terrestrial atmosphere (water vapor and oxygen gas) and small particles, as well as mechanical sample damage. The FFTC can isolate the samples from the effects of the atmosphere for more than a week. The Kochi grid and clamp were made for a coordinated micro/nano-analysis that utilizes a focused-ion beam apparatus, transmission electron microscope, and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry. The Okazaki cell was developed as an additional attachment for a scanning transmission X-ray microscope that uses near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS). These new apparatuses help to minimize possible alterations from the exposure of the samples to air. The coordinated analysis involving these holders was successfully carried out without any sample damage or loss, thereby enabling us to obtain sufficient analytical datasets of textures, crystallography, elemental/isotopic abundances, and molecular functional groups for µm-sized minerals and organics in both the Antarctic micrometeorite and a carbonaceous chondrite. We will apply the coordinated analysis to acquire the complex characteristics in samples obtained by the future spacecraft sample return mission.


1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-32
Author(s):  
Margaret S. Race

In its continuing exploration of the solar system, NASA currently has plans to launch a sample return mission to Mars as early as 2005. The design of such a mission will utilize a variety of contamination control measures, both on the outbound flight to Mars and during the return to Earth of the spacecraft and sample return canister. Biocontainment and quarantine will most certainly be required at a receiving facility where a comprehensive battery of tests will be done to determine if any living, replicating entities are included in the samples and whether the returned materials are harmful in any way to Earth's biota or ecosystems. The task of developing hardware, facilities, laboratory protocols, operations plans and certification standards for extraterrestrial materials will require input from many disciplines, including biosafety and public health experts. By combining basic principles of biocontainment with information about the nature and capabilities of microorganisms, a preliminary protocol has been developed for handling, containing and testing extraterrestrial samples. Plans for biocontainment facilities, quarantine and testing methods for Mars sample return missions will also be important in planning future extraterrestrial sample returns from comets, moons and asteroids which also have the potential for harboring life.


2005 ◽  
Vol 126 ◽  
pp. 101-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Moulin ◽  
L. Hennet ◽  
D. Thiaudière ◽  
P. Melin ◽  
P. Simon

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