2018/10/02 by Julie Brisset, J. E. Colwell, Brisset, Julie +9 · 1 citation
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Aeolian processes and effects #Astro and Planetary Science #Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP) #FOS: Physical sciences #Planetary Science and Exploration
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1810.01459
openalex publication_date 2018/10/02 · openalex created_date 2022/08/02 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
The dusty regolith covering the surfaces of asteroids and planetary\nsatellites differs in size, shape, and composition from terrestrial soil\nparticles and is subject to very different environmental conditions.\nExperimental studies of the response of planetary regolith in the relevant\nenvironmental conditions are thus necessary to facilitate future Solar System\nexploration activities. We combined the results and provided new data analysis\nelements for a series of impact experiments into simulated planetary regolith\nin low-gravity conditions using two experimental setups: the Physics of\nRegolith Impacts in Microgravity Experiment (PRIME) and the COLLisions Into\nDust Experiment (COLLIDE). Results of these experimental campaigns found that\nthere is a significant change in the regolith behavior with the gravity\nenvironment. In a 10-2g environment (Lunar g levels), only embedding of the\nimpactor was observed and ejecta production was produced for most impacts at >\n20 cm/s. Once at microgravity levels (<10-4g), the lowest impact energies also\nproduced impactor rebound. In these microgravity conditions, ejecta started to\nbe produced for impacts at > 10 cm/s. The measured ejecta speeds were lower\nthan the ones measured at reduced-gravity levels, but the ejected masses were\nhigher. The mean ejecta velocity shows a power-law dependence on the impact\nenergy with an index of ~0.7. When projectile rebound occurred, we observed\nthat its coefficients of restitution on the bed of regolith simulant decrease\nby a factor of 10 with increasing impact speeds from ~5 cm/s up to 100 cm/s. We\ncould also observe an increased cohesion between the JSC-1 grains compared to\nthe quartz sand targets.\n