Dr Fred MosselmansDiamond is capable of studying a huge variety of samples from every discipline of scientific research. Dr Fred Mosselmans, Principal Beamline Scientist for Diamond's microfocus spectroscopy beamline, says, ‘In the past year, example of samples studied have included wood chips from the Mary Rose warship, paint pigment samples from Tate Britain, brain tissue to further our understanding of Parkinson's disease, metal on metal hip replacements, stainless steel corrosion and the comet grains from the Stardust mission – a reflection of the huge breadth of research undertaken at Diamond.’
The University of Leicester team plan to study more cometary tracks at Diamond in the months to come, from which they will be able to establish accurate comparisons with meteorites and determine the processes – such as liquid water in the nucleus and mixing in material from the hot inner Solar System – that have gone towards forming comets.
Researchers can contact scientists to discuss their experiment ideas and then put a proposal together for beamtime. An international scientific review panel considers all proposals before allocating time on one of our beamlines. Diamond currently has 11 operating beamlines, with a further 11 being added between now and 2012.
To find out more about NASA’s Stardust mission visit http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html
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