| 1. |
- Kueppers, Michael, et al.
(author)
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Triple F-a comet nucleus sample return mission
- 2009
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In: Experimental astronomy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0922-6435 .- 1572-9508. ; 23:3, s. 809-847
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Triple F (Fresh From the Fridge) mission, a Comet Nucleus Sample Return, has been proposed to ESA's Cosmic Vision program. A sample return from a comet enables us to reach the ultimate goal of cometary research. Since comets are the least processed bodies in the solar system, the proposal goes far beyond cometary science topics (like the explanation of cometary activity) and delivers invaluable information about the formation of the solar system and the interstellar molecular cloud from which it formed. The proposed mission would extract three sample cores of the upper 50 cm from three locations on a cometary nucleus and return them cooled to Earth for analysis in the laboratory. The simple mission concept with a touch-and-go sampling by a single spacecraft was proposed as an M-class mission in collaboration with the Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS.
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| 2. |
- Hornung, K., et al.
(author)
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Electrical properties of cometary dust particles derived from line shapes of TOF-SIMS spectra measured by the ROSETTA/COSIMA instrument
- 2019
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In: Planetary and Space Science. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0032-0633 .- 1873-5088. ; 182
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Between Aug. 2014 and Sept. 2016, while ESA's cornerstone mission Rosetta was operating in the vicinity of the nucleus and in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, the COSIMA instrument collected a large number of dust particles with diameters up to a millimeter. Positive or negative ions were detected by a time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometer (TOF-SIMS) and the composition of selected particles was deduced. Many of the negative ion mass spectra show, besides mass peaks at the correct position, an additional, extended contribution at the lower mass side caused by partial charging of the dust. This effect, usually avoided in SIMS applications, can in our case be used to obtain information on the electrical properties of the collected cometary dust particles, such as the specific resistivity (ρr>1.2⋅1010Ωm) and the real part of the relative electrical permittivity (εr<1.2). From these values a lower limit for the porosity is derived (P>0.8).
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| 3. |
- Paquette, J A, et al.
(author)
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D/H in the refractory organics of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko measured by Rosetta/COSIMA
- 2021
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In: monthly notices of the royal astronomical society. ; 504:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The D/H ratio is a clue to the origin and evolution of hydrogen-bearing chemical species in Solar system materials. D/H has been observed in the coma of many comets, but most such measurements have been for gaseous water. We present the first in situ measurements of the D/H ratios in the organic refractory component of cometary dust particles collected at very low impact speeds in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (hereafter 67P) by the COSIMA instrument onboard Rosetta. The values measured by COSIMA are spatial averages over an approximately 35 × 50 µm2 area. The average D/H ratio for the 25 measured particles is (1.57 ± 0.54) × 10−3, about an order of magnitude higher than the Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water (VSMOW), but more than an order of magnitude lower than the values measured in gas-phase organics in solar-like protostellar regions and hot cores. This relatively high averaged value suggests that refractory carbonaceous matter in comet 67P is less processed than the most primitive insoluble organic matter (IOM) in meteorites, which has a D/H ratio in the range of about 1 to 7 × 10−4. The cometary particles measured in situ also have a higher H/C ratio than the IOM. We deduce that the measured D/H in cometary refractory organics is an inheritance from the presolar molecular cloud from which the Solar system formed. The high D/H ratios observed in the cometary particles challenges models in which high D/H ratios result solely from processes that operated in the protosolar disc.
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| 4. |
- Snodgrass, C., et al.
(author)
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Asteroids, Comets and the Water on Earth - A European Mission to the Main Belt Comets
- 2012
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In: European Planetary Science Congress 2012, held 23-28 September, 2012 in Madrid, Spain. http://meetings.copernicus.org/epsc2012, id. EPSC2012-206.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Main Belt Comets (MBCs) are a newly found population in the main asteroid belt. A spacecraft mission to MBCs can provide key insights into the formation and evolution of the planetary system and the early evolution of Earth. The scientific key questions of the mission, its instrumentation and mission profile is studied with the goal to prepare for future mission calls of international space agencies.
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| 5. |
- Hilchenbach, M., et al.
(author)
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COMET 67P/CHURYUMOV-GERASIMENKO : CLOSE-UP on DUST PARTICLE FRAGMENTS
- 2016
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In: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : Institute of Physics Publishing (IOPP). - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 816:2
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The COmetary Secondary Ion Mass Analyser instrument on board ESA's Rosetta mission has collected dust particles in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. During the early-orbit phase of the Rosetta mission, particles and particle agglomerates have been imaged and analyzed in the inner coma at distances between 100 km and 10 km off the cometary nucleus and at more than 3 AU from the Sun. We identified 585 particles of more than 14 μm in size. The particles are collected at low impact speeds and constitute a sample of the dust particles in the inner coma impacting and fragmenting on the targets. The sizes of the particles range from 14 μm up to sub-millimeter sizes and the differential dust flux size distribution is fitted with a power law exponent of -3.1. After impact, the larger particles tend to stick together, spread out or consist of single or a group of clumps, and the flocculent morphology of the fragmented particles is revealed. The elemental composition of the dust particles is heterogeneous and the particles could contain typical silicates like olivine and pyroxenes, as well as iron sulfides. The sodium to iron elemental ratio is enriched with regard to abundances in CI carbonaceous chondrites by a factor from ∼1.5 to ∼15. No clear evidence for organic matter has been identified. The composition and morphology of the collected dust particles appear to be similar to that of interplanetary dust particles.
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| 6. |
- Hilchenbach, Martin, et al.
(author)
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Mechanical and electrostatic experiments with dust particles collected in the inner coma of comet 67P by COSIMA onboard Rosetta
- 2017
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In: Philosophical Transactions. Series A. - : The Royal Society. - 1364-503X .- 1471-2962. ; 375:2097
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The in situ cometary dust particle instrument COSIMA (COmetary Secondary Ion Mass Analyser) onboard ESA's Rosetta mission has collected about 31 000 dust particles in the inner coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko since August 2014. The particles are identified by optical microscope imaging and analysed by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. After dust particle collection by low speed impact on metal targets, the collected particle morphology points towards four families of cometary dust particles. COSIMA is an in situ laboratory that operates remotely controlled next to the comet nucleus. The particles can be further manipulated within the instrument by mechanical and electrostatic means after their collection by impact. The particles are stored above 0°C in the instrument and the experiments are carried out on the refractory, ice-free matter of the captured cometary dust particles. An interesting particle morphology class, the compact particles, is not fragmented on impact. One of these particles was mechanically pressed and thereby crushed into large fragments. The particles are good electrical insulators and transform into rubble pile agglomerates by the application of an energetic indium ion beam during the secondary ion mass spectrometry analysis. This article is part of the themed issue 'Cometary science after Rosetta'. © 2017 The Authors.
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| 7. |
- Isnard, R., et al.
(author)
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H/C elemental ratio of the refractory organic matter in cometary particles of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
- 2019
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP SCIENCES S A. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 630
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context. Because comets are part of the most primitive bodies of our solar system, establishing their chemical composition and comparing them to other astrophysical bodies gives new constraints on the formation and evolution of organic matter throughout the solar system. For two years, the time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometer COmetary Secondary Ion Mass Analyzer (COSIMA) on board the Rosetta orbiter performed in situ analyses of the dust particles ejected from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P). Aims. The aim is to determine the H/C elemental ratio of the refractory organic component contained in cometary particles of 67P. Methods. We analyzed terrestrial and extraterrestrial calibration samples using the COSIMA ground-reference model. Exploiting these calibration samples, we provide calibration lines in both positive and negative ion registration modes. Thus, we are now able to measure the cometary H/C elemental ratio. Results. The mean H/C value is 1.04 +/- 0.16 based on 33 different cometary particles. Consequently, the H/C atomic ratio is on average higher in cometary particles of 67P than in even the most primitive insoluble organic matter extracted from meteorites. Conclusions. These results imply that the refractory organic matter detected in dust particles of 67P is less unsaturated than the material in meteorites.
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| 8. |
- Silén, J, et al.
(author)
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COSIMA data analysis using multivariate techniques
- 2014
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In: Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 2193-0856 .- 2193-0864. ; 4, s. 455-489
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We describe how to use multivariate analysis of complex TOF-SIMS spectra introducing the method of random projections. The technique allows us to do full clustering and classification of the measured mass spectra. In this paper we use the tool for classification purposes. The presentation describes calibration experiments of 19 minerals on Ag and Au substrates using positive mode ion spectra. The discrimination between individual minerals gives a crossvalidation Cohen κ for classification of typically about 80%. We intend to use the method as a fast tool to deduce a qualitative similarity of measurements.
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