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Science 21 September 2007:
Vol. 317. no. 5845, p. 1680
DOI: 10.1126/science.1145013
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Technical Comments

Response to Comment on "Organics Captured from Comet 81P/Wild 2 by the Stardust Spacecraft"

Scott A. Sandford1* and Donald E. Brownlee2

Caution must be taken in interpreting measurements of organics in Stardust samples. In particular, as noted in Sandford et al. and reinforced in the comment by Spencer and Zare, one component of Stardust organics, the low-mass polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons seen diffusely along track surfaces, should be treated cautiously because they may be due to impact conversion of aerogel carbon.

1 Astrophysics Branch, NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
2 Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ssandford{at}mail.arc.nasa.gov

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Mass Spectrometry Special Feature: Laser mass spectrometric detection of extraterrestrial aromatic molecules: Mini-review and examination of pulsed heating effects.
M. K. Spencer, M. R. Hammond, and R. N. Zare (2008)
PNAS 105, 18096-18101
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)