Also: aerogel, frozen smoke, Stardust mission
Aerogel is an ultralight solid that is mostly air. NASA's Stardust mission used silica aerogel to gently catch comet dust and bring it back to Earth.
Readiness: lab lab studies · prototype demonstrated objects · commercial products or buildings in real use · review summaries of other studies.
Brownlee and colleagues reported the first results from comet particles captured in Stardust's aerogel.
As reported in: Brownlee, Tsou, Aléon et al. (2006). Comet 81P/Wild 2 Under a Microscope. Science. doi:10.1126/science.1135840
Samuel Kistler first made aerogels by replacing the liquid in a gel with gas.
Built / tested: aerogel
As reported in: KISTLER (1931). Coherent Expanded Aerogels and Jellies. Nature. doi:10.1038/127741a0
Abstract only
Tsou and colleagues described the Stardust mission plan to catch comet and interstellar dust in aerogel.
Built / tested: Stardust aerogel collector
As reported in: Tsou, Brownlee, Sandford et al. (2003). Wild 2 and interstellar sample collection and Earth return. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets. doi:10.1029/2003JE002109