Silica aerogel for capturing intact interplanetary dust particles for the Tanpopo experiment

摘要

In this paper, we report the progress in developing a silica-aerogel-basedcosmic dust capture panel for use in the Tanpopo experiment on theInternational Space Station (ISS). Previous studies revealed thatultralow-density silica aerogel tiles comprising two layers with densities of0.01 and 0.03 g/cm$^3$ developed using our production technique were suitablefor achieving the scientific objectives of the astrobiological mission. Aspecial density configuration (i.e., box framing) aerogel with a holder wasdesigned to construct the capture panels. Qualification tests for anengineering model of the capture panel as an instrument aboard the ISS weresuccessful. Sixty box-framing aerogel tiles were manufactured in acontamination-controlled environment.