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Craters formed in mineral dust by hypervelocity microparticles.As a simulation of erosion processes on the lunar surface, impact craters were formed in dust targets by 2- to 5-micron-diameter polystyrene spheres with velocities between 2.5 and 12 km/sec. For weakly cohesive, thick targets of basalt dust with a maximum grain size comparable to the projectile diameter, the craters had an average projectile-to-diameter diameter ratio of 25, and the displaced mass was 3 orders of magnitude greater than the projectile mass. In a simulation of the effect of a dust covering on lunar rocks, a layer of cohesive, fine-grained basalt dust with a thickness nearly twice the projectile diameter protected a glass substrate from damage, but an area about 50 times the cross-sectional area of the projectile was cleared of all but a few grains. Impact damage was produced in glass under a thinner dust layer.
Document ID
19720055808
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Vedder, J. F.
(NASA Ames Research Center Space Sciences Div., Moffett Field, Calif., United States)
Date Acquired
August 6, 2013
Publication Date
August 10, 1972
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 77
Subject Category
Space Sciences
Accession Number
72A39474
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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