MATERIAL OF COMETARY NUCLEI AND ASTEROIDS CAN BE STUDIED IN THE EARTH’S ORBIT

Анотація

The Solar system is formed from a pri-
mary gas-dust cloud. Asteroids and cometary nuclei are
made of the same substance. Therefore, the study of their
debris will help determine their properties. It is best to
investigate the substance of meteoroids in the laboratory.
The presence of radioactive chemical elements in meteor-
ites provides important information about their age. The
study of the isotopic composition and content of uranium
and thorium gives an age of a meteorite substance of 4.6
billion years. Measurement of cosmogenic isotopes in
meteorites and analysis of their content allows us to de-
termine the size, mass and age of meteoritic bodies before
falling to Earth. By measuring the content of tritium and
helium in a meteorite, the average intensity of the cosmic
rays bombarding the sample is estimated. Every day, 100-
1000 tons of meteorite material falls on the Earth’s sur-
face. A large mass falls to the surface under the action of
meteor showers. Meteor showers are formed from the
remnants of the nuclei of known comets and asteroid bod-
ies. To study the substance of the nucleus of comet Chur-
yumov-Gerasimenko, a spacecraft was sent to it worth
about 1 billion euros. We offer, that to study the material
of some nuclei of comets and asteroids, it is possible to
take meteoroid samples directly in outer space in the
Earth’s orbit. There, meteoroid particles must be captured,
preserved and delivered to Earth for a thorough study. To
capture matter from a specific parent cometary nucleus or
asteroid in outer space, traps made of silicon dioxide,
which are filled with airgel, can be used. The material of
the traps allows you to capture particles flying at high
speed without overheating them. This allows you to save
organic and other molecules in such particles. Such traps
should be activated at the moments of maximums of the
selected meteor showers.