Seeking radio emissions from hypervelocity micrometeoroid impacts: Early experimental results from the ground

Starks, M.; Cooke, D. L.; Dichter, B.K.; Chhabildas, L.C.; Reinhart, William D.; Thornhill, Tom F.

doi:10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2006.09.044

Cited by 20 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 8 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…These values are higher than other published results [Friichtenicht and Slattery, 1963]. Indeed, Starks et al [2006] stipulated that, while the plasma is extremely dense, it is quite cold, on the order of 5000-30,000 K (0.43-2.6 eV). For the purposes herein, we assume a dependence between electron temperature and the impact speed, such that the initial temperature T ∼ v 1.4 in K for meteoroid impact velocities between 40 and 150 km/s.…”

Section: Theory Of Electromagnetic Pulses Produced By Meteoroid Impactsmentioning

confidence: 60%

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Electromagnetic pulses generated by meteoroid impacts on spacecraft

Colestock

Cox

et al. 2010

J. Geophys. Res.

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[1] Meteoroid impacts on spacecraft are known to cause mechanical damage, but their electrical effect on spacecraft systems are not well characterized. Several reported spacecraft anomalies are suggestive of an electrical failure associated with meteoroid impact. We present a theory to explain plasma production and subsequent electric fields occurring when a meteoroid strikes a spacecraft, ionizing itself and part of the spacecraft. This plasma, with a charge separation commensurate with different specie mobilities, can produce a strong electromagnetic pulse (EMP) at broad frequency spectra, potentially causing catastrophic damage if the impact is relatively near an area with low shielding or an open umbilical. Anomalies such as gyrostability loss can be caused by an EMP without any detectable momentum transfer due to small (<1 mg) particle mass. Subsequent plasma oscillations can also emit significant power and may be responsible for many reported satellite anomalies. The presented theory discusses both a dust-free plasma expansion with coherent electron oscillation and a dusty plasma expansion with macroscopic charge separation.Citation: Close, S., P. Colestock, L. Cox, M. Kelley, and N. Lee (2010), Electromagnetic pulses generated by meteoroid impacts on spacecraft,

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Section: Theory Of Electromagnetic Pulses Produced By Meteoroid Impactsmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…[11] The ionization process of the vaporized impact constituents has been described as 100% single ionization followed by rapid recombination, resulting in a final ionization efficiency of about 1% [Starks et al, 2006].…”

Section: Theory Of Electromagnetic Pulses Produced By Meteoroid Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electromagnetic pulses generated by meteoroid impacts on spacecraft

Colestock

Cox

et al. 2010

J. Geophys. Res.

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“…Since the neutralization should occur within nanoseconds after the initial impact, in our simulations we assume that energetic neutral Ca fragments are directly released upon the meteoroids' surface bombardment. The plasma expansion for impacts on uncharged tungsten has a distribution ranging between ~10 and 30 km/s, with a peak velocity of ~20 km/s [ Lee et al , ; Starks et al , ]. Based on this information, here we assume that the energetic Ca velocity is equal to 20 km/s ( T ~ 70,000 K).…”

Section: Model Description and Assumptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of the possible effects of comet Encke's meteoroid stream on the Ca exosphere of Mercury

et al. 2017

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The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) observations of the seasonal variability of Mercury's Ca exosphere are consistent with the general idea that the Ca atoms originate from the bombardment of the surface by particles from comet 2P/Encke. The generating mechanism is believed to be a combination of different processes including the release of atomic and molecular surface particles and the photodissociation of exospheric molecules. Considering different generation and loss mechanisms, we perform simulations with a 3‐D Monte Carlo model based on the exosphere generation model by Mura et al. (2009). We present for the first time the 3‐D spatial distribution of the CaO and Ca exospheres generated through the process of micrometeoroid impact vaporization, and we show that the morphology of the latter is consistent with the available MESSENGER/Mercury Atmospheric and Surface Composition Spectrometer observations. The results presented in this paper can be useful in the exosphere observations planning for BepiColombo, the upcoming European Space Agency‐Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency mission to Mercury.

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“…Instead, there remains much disagreement in the field about the mechanisms behind impact-induced radiation. Starks et al 19 attribute impact light flashes to rapid recombination of a fully-ionized plasma, while Burchell et al 20 conclude that light flashes are not due to recombination since they are not affected by his direct plasma measurements, which inhibit recombination. Takano's research group 21,22,23,24 associates their microwave signals to microcracking while Starks et al searched for microwave signals they attribute to plasma oscillation.…”

Section: Ground-based Testingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study of Hypervelocity Impact Plasma Expansion

Lee

Lauben

et al. 2011

3rd AIAA Atmospheric Space Environments Conference

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Hypervelocity impact testing at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics was undertaken with a suite of RF, optical, and plasma sensors. Iron particles between 10 −10 g and 10 −15 g were accelerated to speeds of 1 km/s to 50 km/s using a Van de Graaff dust accelerator and were impacted on metallic targets. The retarding potential analyzers (RPAs) designed and constructed to measure impact-generated plasma are described in detail. Several optical signals from a photomultiplier tube were detected and found to be temporally coincident with impact events that also generated measurable plasma. The plasma measurements from the RPAs indicate a dependence on target electrical bias and material. The expansion speed of plasma generated from impacts on unbiased tungsten was found to be approximately 20 km/s.

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Seeking radio emissions from hypervelocity micrometeoroid impacts: Early experimental results from the ground

Cited by 20 publications

References 8 publications

Electromagnetic pulses generated by meteoroid impacts on spacecraft

Electromagnetic pulses generated by meteoroid impacts on spacecraft

Investigation of the possible effects of comet Encke's meteoroid stream on the Ca exosphere of Mercury

Study of Hypervelocity Impact Plasma Expansion

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