Small is beautiful: The analysis of nanogram‐sized astromaterials

Abstract— The capability of modern methods to characterize ultra‐small samples is well established from analysis of interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), interstellar grains recovered from meteorites, and other materials requiring ultra‐sensitive analytical capabilities. Powerful analytical techniques are available that require, under favorable circumstances, single particles of only a few nanograms for entire suites of fairly comprehensive characterizations. A returned sample of > 1000 particles with total mass of just 1 μg permits comprehensive quantitative geochemical measurements that are impractical to carry out in situ by flight instruments. The main goal of this paper is to describe the state‐of‐the‐art in microanalysis of astromaterials.

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