You are here

  1. Home
  2. SPS Seminar - Cloud Manipulation in microgravity experiments on Protoplanetary Dust Agglomeration

css pmedia

SPS Seminar - Cloud Manipulation in microgravity experiments on Protoplanetary Dust Agglomeration

Dates
Thursday, October 24, 2019 - 14:30
Location
Robert Hooke Seminar Room

Transition from individual microscopic dust grains to kilometre-sized planetesimals is one of the most intriguing problem in the picture of planet formation. The goal is to simulate experimentally the complete first growth step of dust in young planetary systems, from initially (sub-) micrometer-sized dust grains to cm- and larger sized agglomerates. Brownian motion driven agglomeration could not provide the transition to planetesimals within reasonable time scale. Revealing the mechanisms of agglomerate compaction on this way is of the highest interest and the main goal of the European Space Agency's project Interaction in Cosmic and Atmospheric Particle Systems (ICAPS) [Blum at al., 2008]. A series of orbital precursor and short duration microgravity experiments revealed the necessity of special means to operate with a free-floating dust cloud in long duration experiments

The Cloud Manipulation System (CMS) [Vedernikov et al., 2012] is developed to meet the requirements. The driving forces are created by thermophoresis, thermal creep driven gas flow and flow generated by the gas density variation at uniform pressure. The CMS provides automated cloud levitation against external perturbations, cloud scanning through the observation fields of view of general and high resolution optics; delivery of a chosen agglomerate to the microscope field of view and its detailed observation; increase of particle number concentration at constant pressure (cloud squeezing); forced agglomeration.

The results will be discussed in view of microgravity realization on space stations, low- and sub-orbital platforms, parabolic flights and drop tower.

 Blum, J. et al. (2008). Europhysicsnews, 39/3, 27-29.

 Vedernikov, A. et al. (2012) Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress, IAC, 2, pp. 777-787.

SPEAKER INTRODUCTION:

Dr. Andrei Vedernikov received his PhD at Moscow State University in 1990. He has been working at the Space Research Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences and at the Chemistry Dept. of the Moscow State University. Now he is a head of a Particle Transport Phenomena Group at the Microgravity Research Center at Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, with specialization on phoretic processes in gases, particle and cloud motion control. He has been a Principle and Co-Investigator in more than twenty flight campaigns starting from Soviet space stations, now targeting emerging opportunities.

Upcoming Events

No events

See All