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Trajectory calculation of individual particles
from LDEF impacts
Stadermann F. J. (1994). Lunar and Planetary Science, 25,
p. 1327-1328.
ABSTRACT
The capture cells from LDEF experiment A0187-2 were
designed to determine the number and the chemical
composition of particles that impacted the surface of the
satellite. During routine investigations elliptical
discolorations of the target material were observed adjacent
to impact features. In a method demonstrated here, these
elliptical features are interpreted as results of erosion by
atomic oxygen through holes in a cover foil. Based on this
assumption, it becomes possible to determine the pre-impact
trajectories of individual particles in addition to their
original chemical composition. What makes this method
particularly intriguing is the fact that it was unexpected
and that the experiment was not specially designed for this
kind of investigation. It is the only experiment on
LDEF that offers this kind of combined trajectory and
chemistry information of individual particles.
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