Background

The Technical University of Munich has extensive experience in experimentally studying the momentum transfer and ejecta behavior of granular targets in the laboratory. We use an electrothermal accelerator (Rott 1993) to accelerate Nylon projectiles to velocities between typically 500 m/s and 2.8 km/s. The projectile is shot vertically into the target, allowing the use of sand, regolith simulants, or glass beads (for reference) as targets (Chourey et al. 2020). The results are relevant for modelling large-scale impacts (Luther et al. 2022), e.g. the asteroid deflection mission demonstration DART (Thomas et al. 2023). They can be used to understand how asteroid properties can be inferred from their reaction to an impact.

Publications

• Chourey, S., Koschny, D., Rott, M., & Schmausser, C. (2020). Determining the momentum transfer in regolith-like targets using the TUM/LRT electro-thermal accelerator. Planetary and Space Science, 194, 105112.
• Koschny, D., & Grün, E. (2001). Impacts into ice–silicate mixtures: Crater morphologies, volumes, depth-to-diameter ratios, and yield. Icarus, 154(2), 391-401.