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

In this paper, we report the progress in developing a silica-aerogel-based cosmic dust capture panel for use in the Tanpopo experiment on the International Space Station (ISS). Previous studies revealed that ultralow-density silica aerogel tiles comprising two layers with densities of 0.01 and 0.03 g/cm$^3$ developed using our production technique were suitable for achieving the scientific objectives of the astrobiological mission. A special density configuration (i.e., box framing) aerogel with a holder was designed to construct the capture panels. Qualification tests for an engineering model of the capture panel as an instrument aboard the ISS were successful. Sixty box-framing aerogel tiles were manufactured in a contamination-controlled environment.
Comment: Proceedings of 2nd Joint International Conference, ISSOL - the International Astrobiology Society and Bioastronomy (Commission 51 of the International Astronomical Union) (Origins 2014), published in Orig. Life Evol. Biosph., 6 pages, 1 figure