NASA is planning to build a fully functional lunar base by the end of 2020. Astronauts will house this base for months.
This means that NASA also has to make plans to protect the astronauts from the constant impact of Meteoroids on the lunar surface.
For this a NASA scientist Bill Cooke is shooting marbles at speeds more than 16,000 mph. These marbles are quarter-inch in diameter and are made of Pyrex glass. These marbles are shot at soil to determine the impact.
NASA telescopes routinely detect impacts on the Moon. These impacts result in a bright flash which is then captured by these telescopes. Since these are estimates based in a flash of light seen 400,000 km away, there is a lot of uncertainty in the calculations of speed, mass and energy.
To provide accurate results Cooke is performing the experiments which are aimed to protect the astronauts from these unstoppable impacts.
Cooke is using Ames Vertical Gun Range at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA, to shoot marbles into simulated lunar soil. This way they can measure the flash so that they can figure out how much energy goes into light.
The Ames Gun can fire a variety of shapes and materials at speeds from 0.5 to 7 km/s. The target chamber is pumped down to vacuum and can be partially refilled to simulate atmospheres of other worlds.
The gun barrel can also be tilted to a variety of angles as meteoroids never fall straight into the surface.
Knowing the speed of the projectile Cooke can estimate the energies of the softball size meteoroids that hit Moon at 72 km/s.
Since Moon has no atmosphere to slow down the ejected particles so the lunar astronauts are also at a greater risk when it comes to protecting themselves from these secondary particles.
This research will help scientists design tough shelters that can protect the astronauts from these collisions.
Via: redorbit
