THE HAYABUSA CURATION FACILITY AT JOHNSONSPACE CENTER.
Zolensky1, R. Bastien2, B. McCann2, D. Frank2, C. Gonzalez2, M.
Rodriguez2; 1ARES, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
77058,USA(e-mail:michael.e.zolensky@nasa.gov);
2
JETS/NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX 77058 USA.
Introduction: The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA) Hayabusa spacecraft made contact with the asteroid
25143 Itokawa and collected regolith dust from Muses Sea regionof smooth terrain [1]. The spacecraft returned to Earth with morethan 10,000 grains ranging in size from just over 300 μm to lessthan 10 μm [2, 3]. These grains represent the only collection ofmaterial returned from an asteroid by a spacecraft. As part of thejoint agreement between JAXA and NASA for the mission, 10%of the Hayabusa grains are being transferred to NASA for parallel
curation and allocation. In order to properly receive process andcurate these samples, a new curation facility was established at
Johnson Space Center (JSC).
A Pristine Curation Environment: Since the Hayabusa
samples within the JAXA curation facility have been stored freefrom exposure to terrestrial atmosphere and contamination [4],one of the goals of the new NASA curation facility was to continue this treatment. An existing lab space at JSC was transformed into a 120 sq.ft. ISO class 4 (equivalent to the originalclass 10 standard) clean room. Hayabusa samples are stored, observed, processed, and packaged for allocation inside a stainlesssteel glove box under dry N2. Construction of the clean laboratory was completed in 2012. Currently, 25 Itokawa particles arelodged in NASA’s Hayabusa Lab. Special care was taken duringlab construction to remove or contain materials that may contribute contaminant particles in the same size range as the Hayabusa
grains. Several witness plates of various materials are installedaround the clean lab and within the glove box to permit characterization of local contaminants at regular intervals by SEM andmass spectrometry, and particle counts of the lab environment arefrequently acquired. Of particular interest is anodized aluminum,
which contains copious sub-mm grains of a multitude of different
materials embedded in its upper surface. Unfortunately the use ofanodized aluminum was necessary in the construction of theclean room frame to strengthen it and eliminate corrosion andwear over time. All anodized aluminum interior to the lab wasthus covered or replaced by minimally-contaminating materials.
Manipulating Sub-mm Asteroid Grains: Although NASAalready curates other collections containing extraterrestrial particles, the Hayabusa asteroid grains are “naked”, so new handlingtechniques are required. JAXA/ISAS and researchers at Kyushu
University and Sendai University, under the direction of Tomoki
Nakamura and Akio Fujimura, have developed an electrostatic
particle manipulator system, which we are now adapting to ourlab. Alternatively, we are testing the efficacy of a “vacuum tweezers” system using quartz glass needles with an open tip diameter
less than 5 μm.
Additional information about NASA’s Hayabusa collection isavailable at http://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/hayabusa/.
References: [1] Yano et al. (2006) Science 312, 1350, [2]Nakamura et al. (2011) Science 333, 1113, [3] Abe M. (2011)pers. com., [4] Yada et al. (2011) Meteoritics & Planetary Science 74 abst. 5386.