Abstract
A Mars Aero-flyby Sample Collection (MASC) mission has been proposed in a Mars exploration project at Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The MASC vehicle enters the Martian atmosphere, captures dust particles and atmospheric gases at sampling altitudes between 30 and 50 km, and returns back to Earth. In order to improve the feasibility of this project, the development of its sampling system during flying in the Martian dusty atmosphere is crucial. Since silica aerogel has been used as a capturing medium for micrometeoroids and space debris, it is also planned to be used for the MASC mission. However, the capture of hypervelocity micron-size dust particles during the Martian atmospheric flight using aerogel is challenging. The aerogel is exposed to significant aerodynamic heating during sampling, and thus, the effect of heated aerogel on the dust particles must be evaluated. This work attempts to evaluate the impact on aerogel and the survivability of the dust particles inside the capturing medium by carrying out light gas gun and Van de Graaff experimental tests. By comparing the cases between normal and heated aerogels, the survivability of the dust samples as well as the heating effect has been investigated.
