Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T14:39:53.508Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Understanding the comet Wild 2 mineralogy in samples from the Stardust mission

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 February 2012

Frans J. M. Rietmeijer
Frans J. M. Rietmeijer
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03-2040, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131-0001
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The status of the solid materials and mineralogical and petrological results of the Stardust mission to comet 81P/Wild 2 are presented. This mission became the first successful sample-return mission since the Apollo project. This time the challenges were much less related to the availability of state-of-the-art analytical capabilities. Still, dedicated tools had to be developed to manipulate the samples that were all firmly embedded in the tracks they made when decelerating in the silica aerogel tiles of the collector. The comet particles were loosely bonded aggregates that shed their grains along the entire length of these tracks. It appears that most of the original comet minerals survived but interactions of debris with melted aerogel occurred and new minerals were made, adding to the incredibly, and unanticipated, diversity of the comet minerals, including some that so far were known only in meteorites. The latter alone showed that transport distances in the solar nebula extended all the way out to beyond Pluto into the Kuiper Belt of icy, comet-like, bodies. The full extent of the scientific yield of this mission is still unknown, promising but stressing current models of the formation of solar systems.

Keywords

stardust missioncomet nucleus samplesmineralogyhigh-resolution transmission electron microscopysilica aerogel
Type
Stardust Characterization
Information
Powder Diffraction , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 74 - 80
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brearley, A. J. and Jones, R. H. (1998). ”Chondritic meteorites,” Planetary Materials, Revs. Mineral. , vol. 36 (J.J. Papike, ed.), 3.1–3.398, Mineralogical Society of America, Chantilly, Virginia.Google Scholar
Brownlee, D., Tsou, P., Aléon, J., Alexander, C. M. O., Araki, T., Bajt, S., Baratta, G. A., Bastien, R., Bland, P., Bleuet, P., Borg, J., Bradley, J. P., Brearley, A., Brenker, F., Brennan, S., Bridges, J. C., Browning, N. D., Brucato, J. R., Bullock, E., Burchell, M. J., Busemann, H., Butterworth, A., Chaussidon, M., Cheuvront, A., Chi, M., Cintala, M. J., Clark, B. C., Clemett, S. J., Cody, G., Colangeli, L., Cooper, G., Cordier, P., Daghlian, C., Dai, Z., D’Hendecourt, L., Djouadi, Z., Dominguez, G., Duxbury, T., Dworkin, J. P., Ebel, D. S., Economou, T. E., Fakra, S., Fairey, S. A. J., Fallon, S., Ferrini, G., Ferroir, T., Fleckenstein, H., Floss, C., Flynn, G., Franchi, I. A., Fries, M., Gainsforth, Z., Gallien, J.-P., Genge, M., Gilles, M. K., Gillet, P., Gilmour, J., Glavin, D. P., Gounelle, M., Grady, M. M., Graham, G. A., Grant, P. G., Green, S. F., Grossemy, F., Grossman, L., Grossman, J. N., Guan, Y., Hagiya, K., Harvey, R., Heck, P., Herzog, G. F., Hoppe, P., Hörz, F., Huth, J., Hutcheon, I. D., Ignatyev, K., Ishii, H., Ito, M., Jacob, D., Jacobsen, C., Jacobsen, S., Jones, S., Joswiak, D., Jurewicz, A., Kearsley, A. T., Keller, L. P., Khodja, H., Kilcoyne, A. L. D., Kissel, J., Krot, A., Langenhorst, F., Lanzirotti, A., Le, L., Leshin, L. A., Leitner, J., Lemelle, L., Leroux, H., Liu, M.-C., Luening, K., Lyon, I., MacPherson, G., Marcus, M. A., Marhas, K., Marty, B., Matrajt, G., McKeegan, K., Meibom, A., Mennella, V., Messenger, K., Messenger, S., Mikouchi, T., Mostefaoui, S., Nakamura, T., Nakano, T., Newville, M., Nittler, L. R., Ohnishi, I., Ohsumi, K., Okudaira, K., Papanastassiou, D. A., Palma, R., Palumbo, M. E., Pepin, R. O., Perkins, D., Perronnet, M., Pianetta, P., Rao, W., Rietmeijer, F. J. M., Robert, F., Rost, D., Rotundi, A., Ryan, R., Sandford, S. A., Schwandt, C. S., See, T. H., Schlutter, D., Sheffield-Parker, J., Simionovici, A., Simon, S., Sitnitsky, I., Snead, C. J., Spencer, M. K., Stadermann, F. J., Steele, A., Stephan, T., Stroud, R., Susini, J., Sutton, S. R., Suzuki, Y., Taheri, M., Taylor, S., Teslich, N., Tomeoka, K., Tomioka, N., Toppani, A., Trigo-Rodríguez, J. M., Troadec, D., Tsuchiyama, A., Tuzzolino, A. J., Tyliszczak, T., Uesugi, K., Velbel, M., Vellenga, J., Vicenzi, E., Vincze, L., Warren, J., Weber, I., Weisberg, M., Westphal, A. J., Wirick, S., Wooden, D., Wopenka, B., Wozniakiewicz, P., Wright, I., Yabuta, H., Yano, H., Young, E. D., Zare, R. N., Zega, T., Ziegler, K., Zimmerman, L., Zinner, E.,and Zolensky, M. (2006). “Comet 81P/Wild 2 under a microscope,” Science SCIEAS 314, 1711–1716.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dai, Z. R. and Bradley, J. P. (2001). “Iron-nickel sulfides in anhydrous interplanetary dust particles,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta GCACAK 65, 3601–3612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flynn, G. J., Keller, L. P., Feser, M., Wirick, S., and Jacobsen, C. (2003). “The origin of organic matter in the solar system: Evidence from the interplanetary dust particles,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta GCACAK 67, 4791–4806.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hörz, F., Bastien, R., Borg, J., Bradley, J. P., Bridges, J. C., Brownlee, D. E., Burchell, M. J., Chi, M., Cintala, M. J., Dai, Z. R., Djouadi, Z., Dominguez, G., Economou, T. E., Fairey, S. A. J., Floss, C., Franchi, I. A., Graham, G. A., Green, S. F., Heck, P., Hoppe, P., Huth, J., Ishii, H., Kearsley, A. T., Kissel, J., Leitner, J., Leroux, H., Marhas, K., Messenger, K., Schwandt, C. S., See, T. H., Snead, C., Stadermann I, F. J., Stephan, T., Stroud, R., Teslich, N., Trigo-Rodríguez, J. M., Tuzzolino, A. J., Troadec, D., Tsou, P., Warren, J., Westphal, A., Wozniakiewicz, P., Wright, I., and Zinner, E. (2006). “Impact features on stardust: Implications for comet 81P/Wild 2 dust,” Science SCIEAS 314, 1716–1719.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joswiak, D. J., Matrajt, G., Brownlee, D. E., Westphal, A. J., and Snead, C. J. (2007). “A roedderite-bearing terminal particle from stardust track 56: Comparison with rare peralkaline chondrules in ordinary chondrites,” Abstract 2142, 38th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, League City, Texas, March 2007.Google Scholar
Leroux, H., Rietmeijer, F. J. M., Velbel, M. A., Brearley, A. J., Jacob, D., Langenhorst, F., Bridges, J. C., Zega, T. J., Stroud, R. M., Cordier, P., Harvey, R. P., Lee, M., Gounelle, M., and Zolensky, M. E. (2008). “A TEM study of thermally modified comet 81P/Wild 2 dust particles by interactions with the aerogel matrix during the stardust capture process,” Meteorit. Planet. Sci. MPSCFY 43 (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rietmeijer, F. J. M. (1998). “Interplanetary dust particles,” Planetary Materials, Revs. Mineral. , vol. 36 (J.J. Papike, ed.) 2.1–2.95, Mineralogical Society of America, Chantilly, Virginia.Google Scholar
Rietmeijer, F. J. M. (2002). “The earliest chemical dust evolution in the solar nebula,” Chemie der Erde 62, 1–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rietmeijer, F. J. M. (2004). “Dynamic pyrometamorphism during atmospheric entry of large (∼10 micron) pyrrhotite fragments from cluster IDPs,” Meteorit. Planet. Sci. MPSCFY 39, 1869–1887.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rietmeijer, F. J. M., Nakamura, T., Tsuchiyama, A., Uesugi, K., Nakano, T., and Leroux, H. (2008). “Origin and formation of iron-silicide phases in the aerogel of the stardust mission,” Meteorit. Planet. Sci. MPSCFY 43 (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rotundi, A., Ferrini, G., Baratta, G. A., Palumbo, M. E., Palomba, E., and Colangeli, L. (2007). “,” Kauai, Hawaii, September 2005, European Space Agency SP-643, 149–153 (January 2007), ESA Publ. Div., ESTEC, Noordwijk, the Netherlands.Google Scholar
Thomas, K. L., Blanford, G. E., Clemett, S. J., Flynn, G. L., Keller, L. P., Klöck, W., Maechling, C. R., Mc Kay, D. S., Messenger, S., Nier, A. O., Schlutter, D. J., Sutton, S. R., Warren, J. L., and Zare, R. N. (1995). “An asteroidal breccia: The anatomy of a cluster IDP,” Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta GCACAK 59, 2797–2815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuzzolino, A. J., Economou, T. E., Clark, B. C., Tsou, P., Brownlee, D. E., Green, S. F., McDonnell, J. A. M., McBride, N., and Colwell, M. T. S. H. (2004). “Dust measurements in the coma of comet 81P/Wild 2 by the dust flux monitor instrument,” Science SCIEAS 304, 1776–1780.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Westphal, A. J., Snead, C., Butterworth, A., Graham, G. A., Bradley, J. P., Bajt, S., Grant, P. G., Bench, G., Brennan, S., and Pianetta, P. (2004). “Aerogel keystones: Extraction of complete hypervelocity impact events from aerogel collectors,” Meteorit. Planet. Sci. MPSCFY 39, 1375–1386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zolensky, M. E. (1987). “Refractory interplanetary dust particles,” Science SCIEAS 237, 1466–1468.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zolensky, M. E., Zega, T. J., Yano, H., Wirick, S., Westphal, A. J., Weisberg, M. K., Weber, I., Warren, J. L., Velbel, M. A., Tsuchiyama, A., Tsou, P., Toppani, A., Tomioka, N., Tomeoka, K., Teslich, N., Taheri, M., Susini, J., Stroud, R., Stephan, T., Stadermann, F. J., Snead, C. J., Simon, S. B., Simionovici, A., See, T. H., Robert, F., Rietmeijer, F. J. M., Rao, W., Perronnet, M. C., Papanastassiou, D. A., Okudaira, K., Ohsumi, K., Ohnishi, I., Nakamura-Messenger, K., Nakamura, T., Mostefaoui, S., Mikouchi, T., Meibom, A., Matrajt, G., Marcus, M. A., Leroux, H., Lemelle, L., Le, L., Lanzirotti, A., Langenhorst, F., Krot, A. N., Keller, L. P., Kearsley, A. T., Joswiak, D., Jacob, D., Ishii, H., Harvey, R., Hagiya, K., Grossman, L., Grossman, J. N., Graham, G. A., Gounelle, M., Gillet, P., Genge, M. J., Flynn, G., Ferroir, T., Fallon, S., Ebel, D. S., Dai, Z. R., Cordier, P., Clark, B., Chi, M., Butterworth, A. L., Brownlee, D. E., Bridges, J. C., Brennan, S., Brearley, A., Bradley, J. P., Bleuet, P., Bland, P. A., and Bastien, R. (2006). “Mineralogy and petrology of comet 81P/Wild 2 nucleus samples,” Science SCIEAS 314, 1735–1739.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zolensky, M., Zega, T., Weisberg, M., Velbel, M., Tomioka, N., Tomeoka, K., Stroud, R., Stephan, T., Simon, S., Rietmeijer, F., Ohsumi, K., Ohnishi, I., Nakamura-Messenger, K., Nakamura, T., Mikouchi, T., Matrajt, G., Leroux, H., Langenhorst, F., Krot, A., Kearsley, A., Joswiak, D., Ishii, H., Hagiya, K., Grossman, L., Grossman, J., Graham, G., Gounelle, M., Fakra, S., Dai, Z. R., Chi, M., Brownlee, D., Bridges, J., and Bradley, J. (2007). “Wild-2 déjà-vu: Comparison of Wild-2 particles to chondrites and IDPs,” Abstract 1481, 38th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, League City, Texas, March 2007.CrossRefGoogle Scholar