Also: aerogel, frozen smoke, Stardust mission
Aerogel is an ultralight solid that is mostly air. NASA's Stardust mission used silica aerogel to gently catch comet dust and bring it back to Earth.
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Brownlee and colleagues reported the first results from comet particles captured in Stardust's aerogel.
As reported in: Brownlee, Tsou, Aléon et al. (2006). Comet 81P/Wild 2 Under a Microscope. Science. doi:10.1126/science.1135840
Samuel Kistler first made aerogels by replacing the liquid in a gel with gas.
Built / tested: aerogel
As reported in: KISTLER (1931). Coherent Expanded Aerogels and Jellies. Nature. doi:10.1038/127741a0
Abstract only
Tsou and colleagues described the Stardust mission plan to catch comet and interstellar dust in aerogel.
Built / tested: Stardust aerogel collector
As reported in: Tsou, Brownlee, Sandford et al. (2003). Wild 2 and interstellar sample collection and Earth return. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. doi:10.1029/2003JE002109