In many cases, the interaction of celestial bodies occur at hyper-velocities, be they minute specs of dust or planetary embryos. Hyper-velocity events are defined as those in which the material strength of the projectile/target are essentially irrelevant compared to the inertial stresses – and typically involves velocities in excess of 1km per second. In order to investigate these processes PSSRI has two tools capable of hurling small objects at a variety of different targets.
For larger projectiles, at velocities of less than approximately 6 km per second there is a two-stage light gas gun – capable of firing in a range of orientations from horizontal through to vertical.
For higher velocities there is a Van der Graaff dust accelerator, capable of propelling micron to sub-micron particles up to many tens of km per second at targets.
The two systems are equipped with a number of experimental stations capable of housing various sizes and types of targets, including a large, multi geometry regolith chamber for the light gas gun.
In order to study the actual impact process in detail there is a DRS Ultra 8 high speed camera system capable of capturing a sequence of images with 10s of nanosecond timing and exposure.
Light gas gun in horizontal mode with medium size target chamber
