Computational and Experimental Prediction for Detection of Two Dust Populations in the Earth-Lunar Lagrange 2 Point by the EQUULEUS-CLOTH system
Abstract
Cis-Lunar Object Detector within THermal Insulation (CLOTH) is the micrometeoroid penetration sensor mounted on EQUilibriUm Lunar-Earth point 6U Spacecraft (EQUULEUS), a joint deep-space cubesat mission between The University of Tokyo and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which will be launched in the late 2019. This is the first opportunity to reveal the micrometeoroid distribution around the Earth-Moon Lagrange point 2 (EML2). It is expected that CLOTH will detect two components of micrometeoroids during the cruise to EML2 region, i.e. sporadic dust particles originated from the interplanetary space and the EML2 ejecta particles produced by temporary captured orbiters (TCOs). The CLOTH sensor has laminated structure composed of polyvinylidene fluoride film sensors and the multilayer insulation (MLI) of spacecraft. Due to its sensor structure, CLOTH can detect particles that penetrates the outermost layer film of MLI. In this presentation, we report the micrometeoroid detection performance of CLOTH focusing on the damage and penetration of the outermost layer obtained by hypervelocity impact (HVI) experiments and computational simulations. HVI experiments were performed by using the two-stage light gas gun at JAXA/ISAS and the laser-induced particle impact test (LIPIT) facility at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In the experiments, we used soda-lime glass particles of 4-30 μm diameter accelerated at 1-7 km/s. For complementing the HVI experiments, computational simulation with finite element method in AUTODYN_ was performed. From the experiment and simulation results, we revealed the clear difference in detectable impact condition for the two components of micrometeoroids.
- Publication:
-
42nd COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- July 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018cosp...42E1625J