Understanding heterogeneity in Genesis diamond-like carbon film using SIMS analysis of implants.

An amorphous diamond-like carbon film deposited on silicon made at Sandia National Laboratory by pulsed laser deposition was one of several solar wind (SW) collectors used by the Genesis Mission (NASA Discovery Class Mission #5). The film was ~1 μm thick, amorphous, anhydrous, and had a high ratio of - bonds (>50%). For 27 months of exposure to space at the first Lagrange point, the collectors were passively irradiated with SW (H fluence ~2 × 10 ions cm; He fluence ~8 × 10 ions cm).

NASA returns rocks from a comet.

Cometary particles returned by the Stardust Discovery Mission are primarily silicate materials of solar system origin. Some of the grains were formed at high temperatures close to the Sun, but then transported far out to the Kuiper belt region of the solar system before being incorporated in the comet.