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New Image Shows Speck Of Comet Dust From NASA Mission
Berkeley CA (SPX) Feb 3, 2006 This NASA photo shows a mote of comet dust embedded in a tiny wedge of aerogel. It was extracted from the Stardust spacecraft's collectors that returned to Earth Jan. 15. The comet dust was extracted by Christopher Snead, a University of California, Berkeley, researcher using new techniques called nanomanipulation that were developed at the university's Space Sciences Laboratory. The dust particle entered the aerogel from the lower right at supersonic speed and moved to the upper left, where it can be seen as a bright dot at the end of the carrot-shaped trail. The large oval cavity at lower right was blown out by shock waves created as the grain exceeded the sound barrier in the aerogel. At right is a micromachined fixture developed by UC Berkeley physicists, in collaboration with Chris Keller, of MEMS Precision Instruments, to extract grains of comet and interstellar dust from the detectors. A team led by UC Berkeley research physicist Andrew Westphal also developed the device � a glass needle attached to a robotically-controlled micromanipulator � to cut out the wedge-shaped piece of aerogel from a larger aerogel tile. The aerogel-embedded comet grain, still in the clean room at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, will be distributed to researchers for study. The trail is about 1 millimeter long, while the dust grain is only 10 microns across, or one-tenth the diameter of a human hair. Related Links University of California, Berkeley
Jupiter Trojan Asteroid Binary May Be Icy Comets From Solar Systems Infancy
Washington DC (SPX) FEB 1, 2006Two tiny planetoids trailing Jupiter in its orbit could provide new clues about the evolution of the solar system. The binaries � one called Patroclus and the other an unnamed companion � once were thought to be tiny asteroids, but the latest research shows they are made of water ice and a thin layer of dust. |
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