Observations of impacted, frozen Lunar and Martian regolith simulants

Abstract

An examination of impact flashes from frozen Lunar and Martian simulant (JSC-1A and JSC-1 respectively) was carried out in order to better understand the physical and chemical behaviour of the highly energetic, short-lived, ejecta cloud. The relative emission intensity and decay from the impact ejecta were examined across 10 spectral regions and a semi-quantitative analysis of the peak flash intensity and relative densities of the frozen targets carried out. Additional experiments recorded the emission spectra of the frozen target ejecta during the first 15 microseconds after impact to more clearly understand the origin of any atomic/molecular emission