深宇宙用極超高速衝突微粒子防御バンパーの設計と検証

A spacecraft performing a fast flyby of a long-period comet or interstellar object in deep space may be impacted by micrometeoroids at extreme hypervelocity velocities that cannot be reproduced by existing ground-based experimental facilities such as a two-stage light gas gun. Thus, in order to design and validate an impact protection shield for such spacecraft, it is necessary to confirm the validity of the ballistic limit curve by integrating ground-based experiments in the feasible velocity and mass ranges with hydrocode simulations covering the entire velocity and mass ranges expected in deep space. This presentation will outline a review of the design and validation of protective performance, primarily with respect to the Whipple bumper shields, during the period from the spacecraft Giotto conducted a flyby to the Comet Halley in the 1980s to the spacecraft Comet Interceptor for launch in the late 2020s to flyby a long-period comet.