What material did NASA's Stardust spacecraft use as a specialized collector for high-velocity grains?
Answer
Aerogel
Physically capturing fast-moving cosmic particles presents significant technological challenges because a direct, instantaneous impact would typically cause the dust grain to vaporize, destroying the sample needed for analysis. To overcome this, missions like NASA's Stardust employed a specialized collector made of aerogel. Aerogel is a material composed mostly of empty space, which is essential because it allows the incoming particle to decelerate gradually as it passes through the matrix of the collector, slowing down sufficiently so that the dust grain remains intact and recoverable for detailed forensic laboratory examination.
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