Physics – Space Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufm.p51c1449c&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #P51C-1449
Physics
Space Physics
[6250] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Moon
Scientific paper
The Colorado Center for Lunar Dust and Atmospheric Studies (CCLDAS) is a member of the NASA Lunar Science Institute, focused on experimental and theoretical investigations of the lunar surface, including dusty plasma and impact processes, the origins of the lunar atmosphere, and the development of new instrument concepts, with a complementary program of education and community development. The tenuous lunar atmosphere is a surface-bound exosphere (SBE) similar to that found throughout the solar system, for example on Mercury, various icy satellites, over the rings of Saturn, on large asteroids, and on Kuiper Belt objects. Its time-dependent constituents arise from a dynamic balance between sources that may be sporadic (solar wind, sputtering, micrometeoroid impacts, outgassing) and loss mechanisms (escape, ionization), creating a natural dusty plasma laboratory. CCLDAS supports a diverse experimental program, performed in conjunction with theory and simulation, to investigate the near-surface lunar plasma environment, dust charging and mobilization, and the effects of micrometeoroids. The flagship device at CCLDAS is a dust accelerator, currently under construction, which will allow simulation of micrometeoroid impacts at speeds relevant to the lunar environment. The accelerator will be available for direct science investigation as well as instrument calibration; in addition to our own research program, the experimental facilities are open to the lunar and space physics community. One use will be to support the calibration of the Lunar Dust EXperiment (LDEX) instrument, scheduled for launch in 2013 onboard the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft. LDEX will measure the density and temporal variation of micron and submicron sized dust particles released from the lunar surface and elevated to > 30 km altitude by micrometeoroid bombardment and/or electrostatic forces. The new Lunar Environment and Impact Laboratory (LEIL) at CCLDAS provides a vacuum chamber 1.2 m in diameter and 1.5 m long to house a simulated lunar surface with various regolith simulants. The chamber will be outfitted with UV sources to create a photoelectron layer and an ion source to simulate the solar wind. Particle and field probes will be tested in the simulated environment and adhesion of the lunar simulants to various materials will be examined. LEIL can be directly attached to the dust accelerator for impact studies. A UHV chamber is also under construction for the investigation of neutral gas generation by dust particle impacts, with applications to the formation of the lunar atmosphere. CCLDAS is also working on simulating the near-surface lunar plasma environment via 1- and 3-dimensional particle-in-cell codes. The 3-dimensional code, VORPAL, is being used to investigate the role of surface topography on surface charge, potentials and electric fields, with emphasis on the resulting effects on dust transport or lofting processes.
Ccldas Team
Collette A.
Gruen Eberhard
Horanyi Mihaly
Munsat T.
No associations
LandOfFree
The Colorado Center for Lunar Dust and Atmospheric Studies does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with The Colorado Center for Lunar Dust and Atmospheric Studies, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The Colorado Center for Lunar Dust and Atmospheric Studies will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1497852