R. Toucoulou

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe the critical role that synchrotron X-ray and infrared microprobes are playing in the search for interstellar dust in the Stardust Interstellar Dust Collector (SIDC).

TL;DR: The Stardust Interstellar Dust Collection tray as discussed by the authors provides the first opportunity for the direct laboratory-based measurement of contemporary interstellar dust, and has already revealed 16 tracks from particle impacts with an orientation consistent with an interstellar origin, and to date four of the particles associated with these tracks have a composition consistent with the extraterrestrial origin.

TL;DR: In addition to samples from comet 81P/Wild 2, NASA's Stardust mission may have returned the first samples of contemporary interstellar dust as discussed by the authors, which was collected for 229 days during two exposures prior to the spacecraft encounter with Wild 2 and tracked the interstellar dust stream for all but 34 days.

TL;DR: In 2006, the Stardust sample return capsule returned to Earth bearing the first solid samples from a primitive solar system body, Comet 81P/Wild2, and a collector dedicated to the capture and return of contemporary interstellar dust.

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a summary of FTIR analyses of over 20 aerogel keystones, many of which contained candidates for interstellar dust, and assess the potential sources of organic contaminants in the Stardust collector.