Impact of neutron energy on asteroid deflection performance

Horan, Lansing S.; Holland, Darren E.; Syal, Megan Bruck; Bevins, James E.; Wasem, Joseph

doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2021.02.028

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…This code-to-code handoff method works well for the case of neutron radiation from an NED, where the energy is almost instantly deposited compared to hydrodynamic motion, and the deposition depth is larger compared to the other forms of radiation output. Using energy deposition profiles calculated with a Monte Carlo N-Particle transport code (MCNP, developed by LANL; Pelowitz et al 2005) from neutrons with energies often seen in common fission and fusion reactions, studies showing the limits and effectiveness of NED neutrons were successfully carried out by Bruck Syal et al (2013) and Horan et al (2021), respectively. However, based on Glasstone Sections 1.26, 1.77, and 8.03 and Table 10.138 (Glasstone & Dolan 1977), neutrons only make up approximately 1% of the prompt energy output from an NED.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

X-Ray Energy Deposition Model for Simulating Asteroid Response to a Nuclear Planetary Defense Mitigation Mission

Burkey,

Managan,

Gentile

et al. 2023

Planet. Sci. J.

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In the event of a potentially catastrophic asteroid impact, with sufficient warning time, deploying a nuclear device remains a powerful option for planetary defense if a kinetic impactor or other means of deflection proves insufficient. Predicting the effectiveness of a potential nuclear deflection or disruption mission depends on accurate multiphysics simulations of the device's X-ray energy deposition into the asteroid and the resulting material ablation. The relevant physics in these simulations span many orders of magnitude, require a variety of different complex physics packages, and are computationally expensive. Having an efficient and accurate way of modeling this system is necessary for exploring a mission's sensitivity to the asteroid's range of physical properties. To expedite future simulations, we present a completed X-ray energy deposition model developed using the radiation-hydrodynamics code Kull that can be used to initiate a nuclear mitigation mission calculation. The model spans a wide variety of possible mission initial conditions: four different asteroid-like materials at a range of porosities, two different source spectra, and a broad range of radiation fluences, source durations, and angles of incidence. Using blowoff momentum as the primary metric, the model-initiated simulation results match the full radiation-hydrodynamics results to within 10%.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%