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SMART‐1 end of life shallow regolith impact simulations
Author(s) -
Burchell M. J.,
Cole M. J.,
Ramkissoon N. K.,
Wozniakiewicz P. J.,
Price M. C.,
Foing B.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
meteoritics and planetary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.09
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1945-5100
pISSN - 1086-9379
DOI - 10.1111/maps.12479
Subject(s) - impact crater , regolith , projectile , geology , basalt , basement , impact structure , astrobiology , geochemistry , materials science , archaeology , physics , metallurgy , history
Abstract The SMART ‐1 end‐of‐life impact with the lunar surface was simulated with impacts in a two stage light‐gas gun onto inclined basalt targets with a shallow surface layer of sand. This simulated the probable impact site, where a loose regolith will have overlaid a well consolidated basaltic layer of rock. The impact angles used were at 5° and 10° from the horizontal. The impact speed was ~2 km s −1 and the projectiles were 2.03 mm diameter aluminum spheres. The sand depth was between approximately 0.8 and 1.8 times the projectile diameter, implying a loose lunar surface regolith of similar dimensions to the SMART ‐1 spacecraft. A crater in the basement rock itself was only observed in the impact at 10° incidence, and where the depth of loose surface material was less than the projectile diameter, in which case the basement rock also contained a small pit‐like crater. In all cases, the projectile ricocheted away from the impact site at a shallow angle. This implies that at the SMART ‐1 impact site the crater will have a complicated structure, with exposed basement rock and some excavated rock displaced nearby, and the main spacecraft body itself will not be present at the main crater.