In-situ Fe XANES of extraterrestrial grains trapped in aerogel collectors: An analytical test for the interpretation of Stardust samples analyses

On 15 January 2006, the NASA Stardust Capsule Sample Return came back to Earth with its load of cometary and contemporary interstellar grains trapped in aerogel collectors. These cometary grains are the first samples of known parent body and their study in the laboratory will give new clues on the nature of the cometary materials. Using Synchrotron X-ray Microscopy (SXRM), some analogues of Stardust's samples were analysed. The aim was to develop an analytical protocol and to study the effects of the slowing down of hypervelocity particles into aerogel on the physical and chemical properties of the collected grains. Our samples originate either from the NASA Orbital Debris Collection Experiment (ODCE) deployed outside the MIR station, or from light gas gun shots of Allende meteorite grains into aerogel at velocities of 6 km/s. They consist of grains trapped in pieces of aerogel, a few hundreds of microns large. Using synchrotron X-ray microbeam, micro-fluorescence mappings and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectra were performed, bringing information on elemental analysis, repartition and speciation of Fe in our samples. In particular, the XANES studies obtained at the iron K-edge show that iron is present in different oxidation states in the samples, rather in a ferric form at the track entrance while rather in a ferrous form at the end of the track as well as in the final grain. The tests performed on the Allende meteorite dust grains for which the Fe2+/Fe3+ ratio is a priori known, tend to show that the final particle presents the same oxidation state as the initial incident one, a very encouraging clue for the validity of the future interpretation of Stardust samples analyses.