Invited Review: Laboratory simulation of the physical processes occurring on and near the surfaces of comet nuclei

Details Invited Review: Laboratory simulation of the physical processes occurring on and near the surfaces of comet nuclei Invited Review: Laboratory simulation of the physical processes occurring on and near the surfaces of comet nuclei

Jul 1999

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999m%26ps...34..497s&link_type=abstract

Meteoritics & Planetary Science, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 497-525 (1999).

Physics

7

Scientific paper

Laboratory comet simulation experiments are discussed in the context of theoretical models and recent ground-based and spacecraft observations, especially the Giotto observations of P/Halley. The set-up of various comet simulation experiments is reviewed. A number of small-scale experiments have been performed in many laboratories since the early nineteen-sixties. However, the largest and most ambitious series of experiments were the comet simulation experiments known as KOSI (German Kometen Simulation). These experiments were prompted by the appearance of Comet P/Halley in 1986 and in planning for the European Space Agency's Rossetta mission that was originally scheduled to return samples. They were performed between 1987 and 1993 using the German Space Agency's (DLR) space hardware testing facilities in Cologne. As with attempts to reproduce any natural phenomenon in the laboratory, there are deficiencies in such experiments while there are major new insights to be gained. Simulation experiments have enabled the development of methods for making comet analogues and for exploring the properties of such materials in detail. These experiments have provided new insights into the morphology and physical behavior of aggregates formed from silicate grains likely to exist in comets. Formation of a dust mantle on the surfaces, and a system of ice layers below the mantle caused by chemical differentiation have been identified after the insolation of the artificial comet. The mechanisms for heat transfer between the comet's surface and its interior, the associated gas diffusion from the interior of the surface, and compositional, structural, and isotopic changes that occur near the surface, have been described by modeling the experimental results. The mechanisms of the ejection of dust and ice grains from the surface, and the importance of gas-drag in propelling grains have also been explored.

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