NASA’s Mars Sample Return Mission Shields Up For Tests

Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:

A potential hazard for any space mission, including NASA's Mars Sample Return, is micrometeorites. These tiny rocks can travel up to 50 miles per second (180,000 mph). At these extreme speeds, even dust could cause damage to a spacecraft," said Bruno Sarli, NASA engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Sarli leads a team designing shields to protect NASA's Mars Earth Entry System from micrometeorites and space debris. To test the team's shields and computer models, he recently traveled to a NASA lab, designed to safely recreate dangerous impacts.

[...] 2-stage light gas guns are used by the lab to accelerate objects to speeds up to 27,500 feet per second (18,750 mph) that simulate micrometeorite and orbital debris impacts on spacecraft shielding. The first stage uses gunpowder as a propellent the way a standard gun does. The second stage uses highly compressed hydrogen gas that pushes gas into a smaller tube, increasing pressure in the gun, like a car piston. The gun's pressure gets so high that it would level the building if it were to explode. "That is why we hung out in the bunker during the test," said Sarli.

[...] While the pellet's speed is incredibly fast, micrometeorites actually travel six to seven times faster in space. As a result, the team relies on computer models to simulate the actual velocities of micrometeorites. The slower rate will test their computer model's ability to simulate impacts on their shield designs and allows the research team to study the material reaction to such energy.

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