ALBERT

Description: The Stardust spacecraft collected thousands of particles from comet 81P/Wild 2 and returned them to Earth for laboratory study. The preliminary examination of these samples shows that the nonvolatile portion of the comet is an unequilibrated assortment of materials that have both presolar and solar system origin. The comet contains an abundance of silicate grains that are much larger than predictions of interstellar grain models, and many of these are high-temperature minerals that appear to have formed in the inner regions of the solar nebula. Their presence in a comet proves that the formation of the solar system included mixing on the grandest scales.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Brownlee, Don -- Tsou, Peter -- Aleon, Jerome -- Alexander, Conel M O'd -- Araki, Tohru -- Bajt, Sasa -- Baratta, Giuseppe A -- Bastien, Ron -- Bland, Phil -- Bleuet, Pierre -- Borg, Janet -- Bradley, John P -- Brearley, Adrian -- Brenker, F -- Brennan, Sean -- Bridges, John C -- Browning, Nigel D -- Brucato, John R -- Bullock, E -- Burchell, Mark J -- Busemann, Henner -- Butterworth, Anna -- Chaussidon, Marc -- Cheuvront, Allan -- Chi, Miaofang -- Cintala, Mark J -- Clark, B C -- Clemett, Simon J -- Cody, George -- Colangeli, Luigi -- Cooper, George -- Cordier, Patrick -- Daghlian, C -- Dai, Zurong -- D'Hendecourt, Louis -- Djouadi, Zahia -- Dominguez, Gerardo -- Duxbury, Tom -- Dworkin, Jason P -- Ebel, Denton S -- Economou, Thanasis E -- Fakra, Sirine -- Fairey, Sam A J -- Fallon, Stewart -- Ferrini, Gianluca -- Ferroir, T -- Fleckenstein, Holger -- Floss, Christine -- Flynn, George -- Franchi, Ian A -- Fries, Marc -- Gainsforth, Z -- Gallien, J-P -- Genge, Matt -- Gilles, Mary K -- Gillet, Philipe -- Gilmour, Jamie -- Glavin, Daniel P -- Gounelle, Matthieu -- Grady, Monica M -- Graham, Giles A -- Grant, P G -- Green, Simon F -- Grossemy, Faustine -- Grossman, Lawrence -- Grossman, Jeffrey N -- Guan, Yunbin -- Hagiya, Kenji -- Harvey, Ralph -- Heck, Philipp -- Herzog, Gregory F -- Hoppe, Peter -- Horz, Friedrich -- Huth, Joachim -- Hutcheon, Ian D -- Ignatyev, Konstantin -- Ishii, Hope -- Ito, Motoo -- Jacob, Damien -- Jacobsen, Chris -- Jacobsen, Stein -- Jones, Steven -- Joswiak, David -- Jurewicz, Amy -- Kearsley, Anton T -- Keller, Lindsay P -- Khodja, H -- Kilcoyne, A L David -- Kissel, Jochen -- Krot, Alexander -- Langenhorst, Falko -- Lanzirotti, Antonio -- Le, Loan -- Leshin, Laurie A -- Leitner, J -- Lemelle, L -- Leroux, Hugues -- Liu, Ming-Chang -- Luening, K -- Lyon, Ian -- Macpherson, Glen -- Marcus, Matthew A -- Marhas, Kuljeet -- Marty, Bernard -- Matrajt, Graciela -- McKeegan, Kevin -- Meibom, Anders -- Mennella, Vito -- Messenger, Keiko -- Messenger, Scott -- Mikouchi, Takashi -- Mostefaoui, Smail -- Nakamura, Tomoki -- Nakano, T -- Newville, M -- Nittler, Larry R -- Ohnishi, Ichiro -- Ohsumi, Kazumasa -- Okudaira, Kyoko -- Papanastassiou, Dimitri A -- Palma, Russ -- Palumbo, Maria E -- Pepin, Robert O -- Perkins, David -- Perronnet, Murielle -- Pianetta, P -- Rao, William -- Rietmeijer, Frans J M -- Robert, Francois -- Rost, D -- Rotundi, Alessandra -- Ryan, Robert -- Sandford, Scott A -- Schwandt, Craig S -- See, Thomas H -- Schlutter, Dennis -- Sheffield-Parker, J -- Simionovici, Alexandre -- Simon, Steven -- Sitnitsky, I -- Snead, Christopher J -- Spencer, Maegan K -- Stadermann, Frank J -- Steele, Andrew -- Stephan, Thomas -- Stroud, Rhonda -- Susini, Jean -- Sutton, S R -- Suzuki, Y -- Taheri, Mitra -- Taylor, Susan -- Teslich, Nick -- Tomeoka, Kazu -- Tomioka, Naotaka -- Toppani, Alice -- Trigo-Rodriguez, Josep M -- Troadec, David -- Tsuchiyama, Akira -- Tuzzolino, Anthony J -- Tyliszczak, Tolek -- Uesugi, K -- Velbel, Michael -- Vellenga, Joe -- Vicenzi, E -- Vincze, L -- Warren, Jack -- Weber, Iris -- Weisberg, Mike -- Westphal, Andrew J -- Wirick, Sue -- Wooden, Diane -- Wopenka, Brigitte -- Wozniakiewicz, Penelope -- Wright, Ian -- Yabuta, Hikaru -- Yano, Hajime -- Young, Edward D -- Zare, Richard N -- Zega, Thomas -- Ziegler, Karen -- Zimmerman, Laurent -- Zinner, Ernst -- Zolensky, Michael -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2006 Dec 15;314(5806):1711-6.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. brownlee@astro.washington.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17170289" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Materials trapped and preserved in comets date from the earliest history of the solar system. Particles captured by the Stardust spacecraft from comet 81P/Wild 2 are indisputable cometary matter available for laboratory study. Here we report measurements of noble gases in Stardust material. Neon isotope ratios are within the range observed in "phase Q," a ubiquitous, primitive organic carrier of noble gases in meteorites. Helium displays 3He/4He ratios twice those in phase Q and in Jupiter's atmosphere. Abundances per gram are surprisingly large, suggesting implantation by ion irradiation. The gases are probably carried in high-temperature igneous grains similar to particles found in other Stardust studies. Collectively, the evidence points to gas acquisition in a hot, high ion-flux nebular environment close to the young Sun.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Marty, Bernard -- Palma, Russell L -- Pepin, Robert O -- Zimmermann, Laurent -- Schlutter, Dennis J -- Burnard, Peter G -- Westphal, Andrew J -- Snead, Christopher J -- Bajt, Sasa -- Becker, Richard H -- Simones, Jacob E -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2008 Jan 4;319(5859):75-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1148001.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Centre de Recherches Petrographiques et Geochimiques, Nancy Universite, BP 20, 54501 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy Cedex, France.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18174437" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Stable isotope ratios of H, C, and O are powerful indicators of a wide variety of planetary geophysical processes, and for Mars they reveal the record of loss of its atmosphere and subsequent interactions with its surface such as carbonate formation. We report in situ measurements of the isotopic ratios of D/H and (18)O/(16)O in water and (13)C/(12)C, (18)O/(16)O, (17)O/(16)O, and (13)C(18)O/(12)C(16)O in carbon dioxide, made in the martian atmosphere at Gale Crater from the Curiosity rover using the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)'s tunable laser spectrometer (TLS). Comparison between our measurements in the modern atmosphere and those of martian meteorites such as ALH 84001 implies that the martian reservoirs of CO2 and H2O were largely established ~4 billion years ago, but that atmospheric loss or surface interaction may be still ongoing.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Webster, Chris R -- Mahaffy, Paul R -- Flesch, Gregory J -- Niles, Paul B -- Jones, John H -- Leshin, Laurie A -- Atreya, Sushil K -- Stern, Jennifer C -- Christensen, Lance E -- Owen, Tobias -- Franz, Heather -- Pepin, Robert O -- Steele, Andrew -- MSL Science Team -- Achilles, Cherie -- Agard, Christophe -- Alves Verdasca, Jose Alexandre -- Anderson, Robert -- Anderson, Ryan -- Archer, Doug -- Armiens-Aparicio, Carlos -- Arvidson, Ray -- Atlaskin, Evgeny -- Aubrey, Andrew -- Baker, Burt -- Baker, Michael -- Balic-Zunic, Tonci -- Baratoux, David -- Baroukh, Julien -- Barraclough, Bruce -- Bean, Keri -- Beegle, Luther -- Behar, Alberto -- Bell, James -- Bender, Steve -- Benna, Mehdi -- Bentz, Jennifer -- Berger, Gilles -- Berger, Jeff -- Berman, Daniel -- Bish, David -- Blake, David F -- Blanco Avalos, Juan J -- Blaney, Diana -- Blank, Jen -- Blau, Hannah -- Bleacher, Lora -- Boehm, Eckart -- Botta, Oliver -- Bottcher, Stephan -- Boucher, Thomas -- Bower, Hannah -- Boyd, Nick -- Boynton, Bill -- Breves, Elly -- Bridges, John -- Bridges, Nathan -- Brinckerhoff, William -- Brinza, David -- Bristow, Thomas -- Brunet, Claude -- Brunner, Anna -- Brunner, Will -- Buch, Arnaud -- Bullock, Mark -- Burmeister, Sonke -- Cabane, Michel -- Calef, Fred -- Cameron, James -- Campbell, John -- Cantor, Bruce -- Caplinger, Michael -- Caride Rodriguez, Javier -- Carmosino, Marco -- Carrasco Blazquez, Isaias -- Charpentier, Antoine -- Chipera, Steve -- Choi, David -- Clark, Benton -- Clegg, Sam -- Cleghorn, Timothy -- Cloutis, Ed -- Cody, George -- Coll, Patrice -- Conrad, Pamela -- Coscia, David -- Cousin, Agnes -- Cremers, David -- Crisp, Joy -- Cros, Alain -- Cucinotta, Frank -- d'Uston, Claude -- Davis, Scott -- Day, Mackenzie -- de la Torre Juarez, Manuel -- DeFlores, Lauren -- DeLapp, Dorothea -- DeMarines, Julia -- DesMarais, David -- Dietrich, William -- Dingler, Robert -- Donny, Christophe -- Downs, Bob -- Drake, Darrell -- Dromart, Gilles -- Dupont, Audrey -- Duston, Brian -- Dworkin, Jason -- Dyar, M Darby -- Edgar, Lauren -- Edgett, Kenneth -- Edwards, Christopher -- Edwards, Laurence -- Ehlmann, Bethany -- Ehresmann, Bent -- Eigenbrode, Jen -- Elliott, Beverley -- Elliott, Harvey -- Ewing, Ryan -- Fabre, Cecile -- Fairen, Alberto -- Farley, Ken -- Farmer, Jack -- Fassett, Caleb -- Favot, Laurent -- Fay, Donald -- Fedosov, Fedor -- Feldman, Jason -- Feldman, Sabrina -- Fisk, Marty -- Fitzgibbon, Mike -- Floyd, Melissa -- Fluckiger, Lorenzo -- Forni, Olivier -- Fraeman, Abby -- Francis, Raymond -- Francois, Pascaline -- Freissinet, Caroline -- French, Katherine Louise -- Frydenvang, Jens -- Gaboriaud, Alain -- Gailhanou, Marc -- Garvin, James -- Gasnault, Olivier -- Geffroy, Claude -- Gellert, Ralf -- Genzer, Maria -- Glavin, Daniel -- Godber, Austin -- Goesmann, Fred -- Goetz, Walter -- Golovin, Dmitry -- Gomez Gomez, Felipe -- Gomez-Elvira, Javier -- Gondet, Brigitte -- Gordon, Suzanne -- Gorevan, Stephen -- Grant, John -- Griffes, Jennifer -- Grinspoon, David -- Grotzinger, John -- Guillemot, Philippe -- Guo, Jingnan -- Gupta, Sanjeev -- Guzewich, Scott -- Haberle, Robert -- Halleaux, Douglas -- Hallet, Bernard -- Hamilton, Vicky -- Hardgrove, Craig -- Harker, David -- Harpold, Daniel -- Harri, Ari-Matti -- Harshman, Karl -- Hassler, Donald -- Haukka, Harri -- Hayes, Alex -- Herkenhoff, Ken -- Herrera, Paul -- Hettrich, Sebastian -- Heydari, Ezat -- Hipkin, Victoria -- Hoehler, Tori -- Hollingsworth, Jeff -- Hudgins, Judy -- Huntress, Wesley -- Hurowitz, Joel -- Hviid, Stubbe -- Iagnemma, Karl -- Indyk, Steve -- Israel, Guy -- Jackson, Ryan -- Jacob, Samantha -- Jakosky, Bruce -- Jensen, Elsa -- Jensen, Jaqueline Klovgaard -- Johnson, Jeffrey -- Johnson, Micah -- Johnstone, Steve -- Jones, Andrea -- Joseph, Jonathan -- Jun, Insoo -- Kah, Linda -- Kahanpaa, Henrik -- Kahre, Melinda -- Karpushkina, Natalya -- Kasprzak, Wayne -- Kauhanen, Janne -- Keely, Leslie -- Kemppinen, Osku -- Keymeulen, Didier -- Kim, Myung-Hee -- Kinch, Kjartan -- King, Penny -- Kirkland, Laurel -- Kocurek, Gary -- Koefoed, Asmus -- Kohler, Jan -- Kortmann, Onno -- Kozyrev, Alexander -- Krezoski, Jill -- Krysak, Daniel -- Kuzmin, Ruslan -- Lacour, Jean Luc -- Lafaille, Vivian -- Langevin, Yves -- Lanza, Nina -- Lasue, Jeremie -- Le Mouelic, Stephane -- Lee, Ella Mae -- Lee, Qiu-Mei -- Lees, David -- Lefavor, Matthew -- Lemmon, Mark -- Lepinette Malvitte, Alain -- Leveille, Richard -- Lewin-Carpintier, Eric -- Lewis, Kevin -- Li, Shuai -- Lipkaman, Leslie -- Little, Cynthia -- Litvak, Maxim -- Lorigny, Eric -- Lugmair, Guenter -- Lundberg, Angela -- Lyness, Eric -- Madsen, Morten -- Maki, Justin -- Malakhov, Alexey -- Malespin, Charles -- Malin, Michael -- Mangold, Nicolas -- Manhes, Gerard -- Manning, Heidi -- Marchand, Genevieve -- Marin Jimenez, Mercedes -- Martin Garcia, Cesar -- Martin, Dave -- Martin, Mildred -- Martinez-Frias, Jesus -- Martin-Soler, Javier -- Martin-Torres, F Javier -- Mauchien, Patrick -- Maurice, Sylvestre -- McAdam, Amy -- McCartney, Elaina -- McConnochie, Timothy -- McCullough, Emily -- McEwan, Ian -- McKay, Christopher -- McLennan, Scott -- McNair, Sean -- Melikechi, Noureddine -- Meslin, Pierre-Yves -- Meyer, Michael -- Mezzacappa, Alissa -- Miller, Hayden -- Miller, Kristen -- Milliken, Ralph -- Ming, Douglas -- Minitti, Michelle -- Mischna, Michael -- Mitrofanov, Igor -- Moersch, Jeff -- Mokrousov, Maxim -- Molina Jurado, Antonio -- Moores, John -- Mora-Sotomayor, Luis -- Morookian, John Michael -- Morris, Richard -- Morrison, Shaunna -- Mueller-Mellin, Reinhold -- Muller, Jan-Peter -- Munoz Caro, Guillermo -- Nachon, Marion -- Navarro Lopez, Sara -- Navarro-Gonzalez, Rafael -- Nealson, Kenneth -- Nefian, Ara -- Nelson, Tony -- Newcombe, Megan -- Newman, Claire -- Newsom, Horton -- Nikiforov, Sergey -- Nixon, Brian -- Noe Dobrea, Eldar -- Nolan, Thomas -- Oehler, Dorothy -- Ollila, Ann -- Olson, Timothy -- de Pablo Hernandez, Miguel Angel -- Paillet, Alexis -- Pallier, Etienne -- Palucis, Marisa -- Parker, Timothy -- Parot, Yann -- Patel, Kiran -- Paton, Mark -- Paulsen, Gale -- Pavlov, Alex -- Pavri, Betina -- Peinado-Gonzalez, Veronica -- Peret, Laurent -- Perez, Rene -- Perrett, Glynis -- Peterson, Joe -- Pilorget, Cedric -- Pinet, Patrick -- Pla-Garcia, Jorge -- Plante, Ianik -- Poitrasson, Franck -- Polkko, Jouni -- Popa, Radu -- Posiolova, Liliya -- Posner, Arik -- Pradler, Irina -- Prats, Benito -- Prokhorov, Vasily -- Purdy, Sharon Wilson -- Raaen, Eric -- Radziemski, Leon -- Rafkin, Scot -- Ramos, Miguel -- Rampe, Elizabeth -- Raulin, Francois -- Ravine, Michael -- Reitz, Gunther -- Renno, Nilton -- Rice, Melissa -- Richardson, Mark -- Robert, Francois -- Robertson, Kevin -- Rodriguez Manfredi, Jose Antonio -- Romeral-Planello, Julio J -- Rowland, Scott -- Rubin, David -- Saccoccio, Muriel -- Salamon, Andrew -- Sandoval, Jennifer -- Sanin, Anton -- Sans Fuentes, Sara Alejandra -- Saper, Lee -- Sarrazin, Philippe -- Sautter, Violaine -- Savijarvi, Hannu -- Schieber, Juergen -- Schmidt, Mariek -- Schmidt, Walter -- Scholes, Daniel -- Schoppers, Marcel -- Schroder, Susanne -- Schwenzer, Susanne -- Sebastian Martinez, Eduardo -- Sengstacken, Aaron -- Shterts, Ruslan -- Siebach, Kirsten -- Siili, Tero -- Simmonds, Jeff -- Sirven, Jean-Baptiste -- Slavney, Susie -- Sletten, Ronald -- Smith, Michael -- Sobron Sanchez, Pablo -- Spanovich, Nicole -- Spray, John -- Squyres, Steven -- Stack, Katie -- Stalport, Fabien -- Stein, Thomas -- Stewart, Noel -- Stipp, Susan Louise Svane -- Stoiber, Kevin -- Stolper, Ed -- Sucharski, Bob -- Sullivan, Rob -- Summons, Roger -- Sumner, Dawn -- Sun, Vivian -- Supulver, Kimberley -- Sutter, Brad -- Szopa, Cyril -- Tan, Florence -- Tate, Christopher -- Teinturier, Samuel -- ten Kate, Inge -- Thomas, Peter -- Thompson, Lucy -- Tokar, Robert -- Toplis, Mike -- Torres Redondo, Josefina -- Trainer, Melissa -- Treiman, Allan -- Tretyakov, Vladislav -- Urqui-O'Callaghan, Roser -- Van Beek, Jason -- Van Beek, Tessa -- VanBommel, Scott -- Vaniman, David -- Varenikov, Alexey -- Vasavada, Ashwin -- Vasconcelos, Paulo -- Vicenzi, Edward -- Vostrukhin, Andrey -- Voytek, Mary -- Wadhwa, Meenakshi -- Ward, Jennifer -- Weigle, Eddie -- Wellington, Danika -- Westall, Frances -- Wiens, Roger Craig -- Wilhelm, Mary Beth -- Williams, Amy -- Williams, Joshua -- Williams, Rebecca -- Williams, Richard B -- Wilson, Mike -- Wimmer-Schweingruber, Robert -- Wolff, Mike -- Wong, Mike -- Wray, James -- Wu, Megan -- Yana, Charles -- Yen, Albert -- Yingst, Aileen -- Zeitlin, Cary -- Zimdar, Robert -- Zorzano Mier, Maria-Paz -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2013 Jul 19;341(6143):260-3. doi: 10.1126/science.1237961.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA. chris.r.webster@jpl.nasa.gov〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23869013" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Volume mixing and isotope ratios secured with repeated atmospheric measurements taken with the Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite on the Curiosity rover are: carbon dioxide (CO2), 0.960(+/-0.007); argon-40 ((40)Ar), 0.0193(+/-0.0001); nitrogen (N2), 0.0189(+/-0.0003); oxygen, 1.45(+/-0.09) x 10(-3); carbon monoxide, 〈 1.0 x 10(-3); and (40)Ar/(36)Ar, 1.9(+/-0.3) x 10(3). The (40)Ar/N2 ratio is 1.7 times greater and the (40)Ar/(36)Ar ratio 1.6 times lower than values reported by the Viking Lander mass spectrometer in 1976, whereas other values are generally consistent with Viking and remote sensing observations. The (40)Ar/(36)Ar ratio is consistent with martian meteoritic values, which provides additional strong support for a martian origin of these rocks. The isotopic signature delta(13)C from CO2 of ~45 per mil is independently measured with two instruments. This heavy isotope enrichment in carbon supports the hypothesis of substantial atmospheric loss.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Mahaffy, Paul R -- Webster, Christopher R -- Atreya, Sushil K -- Franz, Heather -- Wong, Michael -- Conrad, Pamela G -- Harpold, Dan -- Jones, John J -- Leshin, Laurie A -- Manning, Heidi -- Owen, Tobias -- Pepin, Robert O -- Squyres, Steven -- Trainer, Melissa -- MSL Science Team -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2013 Jul 19;341(6143):263-6. doi: 10.1126/science.1237966.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA. paul.r.mahaffy@nasa.gov〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23869014" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Samples from the Rocknest aeolian deposit were heated to ~835 degrees C under helium flow and evolved gases analyzed by Curiosity's Sample Analysis at Mars instrument suite. H2O, SO2, CO2, and O2 were the major gases released. Water abundance (1.5 to 3 weight percent) and release temperature suggest that H2O is bound within an amorphous component of the sample. Decomposition of fine-grained Fe or Mg carbonate is the likely source of much of the evolved CO2. Evolved O2 is coincident with the release of Cl, suggesting that oxygen is produced from thermal decomposition of an oxychloride compound. Elevated deltaD values are consistent with recent atmospheric exchange. Carbon isotopes indicate multiple carbon sources in the fines. Several simple organic compounds were detected, but they are not definitively martian in origin.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Leshin, L A -- Mahaffy, P R -- Webster, C R -- Cabane, M -- Coll, P -- Conrad, P G -- Archer, P D Jr -- Atreya, S K -- Brunner, A E -- Buch, A -- Eigenbrode, J L -- Flesch, G J -- Franz, H B -- Freissinet, C -- Glavin, D P -- McAdam, A C -- Miller, K E -- Ming, D W -- Morris, R V -- Navarro-Gonzalez, R -- Niles, P B -- Owen, T -- Pepin, R O -- Squyres, S -- Steele, A -- Stern, J C -- Summons, R E -- Sumner, D Y -- Sutter, B -- Szopa, C -- Teinturier, S -- Trainer, M G -- Wray, J J -- Grotzinger, J P -- MSL Science Team -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2013 Sep 27;341(6153):1238937. doi: 10.1126/science.1238937.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and School of Science, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180, USA. leshin@rpi.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24072926" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopic compositions are heterogeneous among comet 81P/Wild 2 particle fragments; however, extreme isotopic anomalies are rare, indicating that the comet is not a pristine aggregate of presolar materials. Nonterrestrial nitrogen and neon isotope ratios suggest that indigenous organic matter and highly volatile materials were successfully collected. Except for a single (17)O-enriched circumstellar stardust grain, silicate and oxide minerals have oxygen isotopic compositions consistent with solar system origin. One refractory grain is (16)O-enriched, like refractory inclusions in meteorites, suggesting that Wild 2 contains material formed at high temperature in the inner solar system and transported to the Kuiper belt before comet accretion.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉McKeegan, Kevin D -- Aleon, Jerome -- Bradley, John -- Brownlee, Donald -- Busemann, Henner -- Butterworth, Anna -- Chaussidon, Marc -- Fallon, Stewart -- Floss, Christine -- Gilmour, Jamie -- Gounelle, Matthieu -- Graham, Giles -- Guan, Yunbin -- Heck, Philipp R -- Hoppe, Peter -- Hutcheon, Ian D -- Huth, Joachim -- Ishii, Hope -- Ito, Motoo -- Jacobsen, Stein B -- Kearsley, Anton -- Leshin, Laurie A -- Liu, Ming-Chang -- Lyon, Ian -- Marhas, Kuljeet -- Marty, Bernard -- Matrajt, Graciela -- Meibom, Anders -- Messenger, Scott -- Mostefaoui, Smail -- Mukhopadhyay, Sujoy -- Nakamura-Messenger, Keiko -- Nittler, Larry -- Palma, Russ -- Pepin, Robert O -- Papanastassiou, Dimitri A -- Robert, Francois -- Schlutter, Dennis -- Snead, Christopher J -- Stadermann, Frank J -- Stroud, Rhonda -- Tsou, Peter -- Westphal, Andrew -- Young, Edward D -- Ziegler, Karen -- Zimmermann, Laurent -- Zinner, Ernst -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2006 Dec 15;314(5806):1724-8.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567, USA. mckeegan@ess.ucla.edu〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17170292" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: [1]  The quadrupole mass spectrometer (QMS) of the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on Curiosity rover has made the first high precision measurement of the non-radiogenic argon isotope ratio in the atmosphere of Mars. The resulting value of 36 Ar/ 38 Ar = 4.2 ± 0.1 is highly significant for it provides excellent evidence that “Mars” meteorites are indeed of martian origin, and it points to a significant loss of argon of at least 50% and perhaps as high as 85-95% from the atmosphere of Mars in the past 4 billion years. Taken together with the isotopic fractionations in N, C, H and O measured by SAM, these results imply a substantial loss of atmosphere from Mars in the post-hydrodynamic escape phase.