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Large Area Lunar Dust Flux Measurement InstrumentThe instrument under development is designed to characterize the flux and size distribution of the lunar micrometeoroid and secondary ejecta environment. When deployed on the lunar surface, the data collected will benefit fundamental lunar science as well as enabling more reliable impact risk assessments for human lunar exploration activities. To perform this task, the instrument requirements are demanding. It must have as large a surface area as possible to sample the very sparse population of the larger potentially damage-inducing micrometeorites. It must also have very high sensitivity to enable it to measure the flux of small (<10 micron) micrometeorite and secondary ejecta dust particles. To be delivered to the lunar surface, it must also be very low mass, rugged and stow compactly. The instrument designed to meet these requirements is called FOMIS. It is a large-area thin film under tension (i.e. a drum) with multiple fiber optic displacement (FOD) sensors to monitor displacements of the film. This sensor was chosen since it can measure displacements over a wide dynamic range: 1 cm to sub-Angstrom. A prototype system was successfully demonstrated using the hypervelocity impact test facility at the University of Kent (Canterbury, UK). Based on these results, the prototype system can detect hypervelocity (approx.5 km/s) impacts by particles as small as 2 microns diameter. Additional tests using slow speeds find that it can detect secondary ejecta particles (which do not penetrate the film) with momentums as small as 15 pico-gram 100m/s, or nominally 5 microns diameter at 100 m/s.
Document ID
20090032648
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Corsaro, R.
Giovane, F.
Liou, Jer-Chyi
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Burchell, M.
Stansbery, Eugene
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Lagakos, N.
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
July 21, 2009
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
JSC-CN-18385
Meeting Information
Meeting: NASA 2009 Lunar Science Forum
Location: Moffett Field, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: July 21, 2009
End Date: July 23, 2009
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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