Analytical Electron Microscopy of Extraterrestrial Stratospheric Particles
Abstract
A NASA program to collect extraterrestrial particles from the stratosphere has resulted in a growing understanding of fine grained materials in the earth's upper atmosphere. These particles, if extraterrestrial, are refered to as interplanetary or cosmic dust. Typically they range in size from 1.0 to 50.0 urn in diameter. The cosmic dust collected within our atmosphere has several postulated origins. These origins include disaggregated comets, asteroid collisions, meteorite-planetary impacts, residual material from the formation of the solar system and interstellar dust which may be pre-solar in age. It is of interest to understand the mineralogy of these materials since this information is of direct relevance to understanding the history of the solar system. A variety of techniques have been employed in the study of several hundred particles collected thus far. Selected results from our electron microscope investigations are reported here.
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