Abstract
Collection of low velocity, micron-size, dust particles (~50 - 200 m/s) is an upcoming challenge for dust instruments aboard NASA’s Comet Rendezvous and Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) mission, scheduled for launch in 1995. There will be three dust analysis instruments on board, each of which will capture cometary dust intact for analysis by different techniques. Each instrument has its own restrictions on dust collection processes because of differing techniques and science goals. SEMPA, the Scanning Electron Microscope and Particle Analyzer, is one of the CRAF dust analysis instruments. The work reported here examines particle capture in light of SEMPA’s particular functional requirements. These include particle visibility for imaging and x-ray analysis, high contrast, no interfering x-ray lines, and collection without size discrimination. A number of collection techniques have been tested in our laboratory with dust from a free-expansion, gas-drag dust gun that accelerates micron-size dust to ~50 - 200 m/s, the expected relative velocity of the spacecraft and the dust at the comet.
Published Version
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