On the subject of sample return missions, This is probably a dumb question (even by my standards) but would it not be possible in theory to collect particles/material from space using lasers?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_tweezers I have heard of devices called 'laser tweezers' which can actually move material around, since space is a vacuum, and if you had sufficiently large lasers could they not be made to collect microscopic samples and move them around, perhaps pull dust off the surface of an asteroid onto to an orbiting space vehicle? Or similar? Just a thought... Mark Ford ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
