Preliminary studies of Xe and Kr from the Genesis polished aluminium collector

Abstract

Low solar wind (SW) abundances of Xe and Kr require a large collector area to provide measurable quantities of these rare gases. Originally we planned to use large areas of Al on Sapphire (AloS) collectors, but the hard landing of Genesis fractured these collectors, changing our initial plans. The only large, relatively intact, surface exposed to SW was the kidney-shaped polished aluminum T6-6061 alloy (AlK) designed to serve as a thermal shield rather than a SW collector. Here we describe what has been done and the problems remaining to be solved for optimized Xe and Kr abundances and isotopic compositions from the AlK.

Files

Additional details