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Inflatable plastic tubes? Good idea! Engineers did consider that method during the years of research and development that led up to STARDUST. Comet particles would penetrate the tubes, vaporize and the comet vapor would condense on the inside of the tubes. There they would remain until the probe returned to Earth, where they would be analyzed.
But then we found another method which would collect comet dust intact. What was it?
| Use inflatable plastic tubes to capture comet vapor from particles that penetrate the tubes and vaporize | Use plastic foam to capture the particles intact | Use a sponge-like silicon material called aerogel, capture the particles intact |
| Spacecraft images copyright 1996-97, California Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. Further reproduction prohibited. |