NASA showcases menace of micrometeorites in a lab to protect samples from Mars

NASA is planning to bring rocks from Mars early next decade but the agency would need a solid plan to safely procure the samples. In order to make sure the spacecraft fetching those rocks makes it to Earth in one piece, the agency recently conducted a series of tests at the Remote Hypervelocity Test Laboratory at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. 

During the tests, the experts created a simulation of the micrometeorites hitting metal at immense speeds; in an attempt to mitigate their damaging effects.

See what micrometeorites can do!

NASA documented the tests wherein objects were accelerated to speeds that simulate micrometeorite and orbital debris impacts. This was carried out using specialised 2-stage light gas guns that shoot pellets at speeds over 29,000 km per hour. The first stage uses gunpowder as a propellent the way a standard gun does whereas the second stage uses highly compressed hydrogen gas that pushes gas into a smaller tube, increasing pressure in the gun. NASA says that this pressure is high enough to level a building if it explodes.

In the video above, the accelerated particle can be seen tearing through layers of metal sheets. “While the pellet's speed is fast, micrometeorites travel six to seven times faster in space. As a result, the team relies on computer models to simulate the actual velocities of micrometeorites”, NASA said in a statement.

“The slower rate will test their computer model's ability to simulate impacts on their shield designs and allows the team to study the material reaction to such energy”.

The objective of this test is to design a shield that could protect the sample-carrying spacecraft from micrometeorites and space debris that could jeopardise NASA’s Mars Sample Return Program. It is being developed by the US space agency in partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA) to bring the rock samples collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth for a detailed analysis.

The Program starts with ESA sending an Earth Return Orbiter in the fall of 2027 followed by the launch of the Sample Retrieval Lander in the summer of 2028. This Program would also see a rocket launch on another planet for the first time ever.