Mission Name COLLIDE-2: Collisions Into Dust Experiment-2 Download COLLIDE patch (120kb) posterRegion LASP Instruments 6 Impactor Box Systems (IBS) Destination Earth orbit Launch Date December 5, 2001 Launch Location Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida Launch Vehicle Space Shuttle Endeavor mission STS-108 Mission Duration 6 experiments: approximately 30 minutes, data analysis: on-going Mission Description/ LASP involvement The Collisions Into Dust Experiment studied the gentle collisions that occur between particles in planetary rings and in the early stages of planet formation. The weightless environment of the space shuttle allowed for collisions into dust at very low speeds to help understand how planetary rings evolve and how the planets themselves formed. The COLLIDE experiment was designed and built by engineering students at the University of Colorado. Six impact experiments were recorded on videotape for analysis after the experiment returned to Earth. (Read more on LASP involvement) LASP Divisions Involved Engineering * Science LASP Mission Web Page http://lasp.colorado.edu/collide/ Official Mission Web Page None

---

The Science and Goal

COLLIDE-2 is an investigation into planetary dust rings. A follow on to COLLIDE-1, which flew on STS-90, COLLIDE-2 performed low-velocity (~1cm/sec) impact experiments into simulated dusty regoliths in microgravity. These impacts simulate the conditions in planetary rings and early protoplanetary disks. The experiment will give scientists a look at the dynamics, origin and evolution of planetary ring systems. Rings are collisionally evolved systems. Collisions sculpt the ring, leading to spreading, transfer of annular momentum, release of dust particles and damping of waves and wakes. The rate of evolution depends on dissipation of energy in collisions. COLLIDE-2 results also can be applied to the lifecycles of planetary dust rings.

The purpose of the COLLIDE-2 is to better understand the release of dust from the surfaces of small particles in planetary rings and protoplanetary disks, by spring/launching Teflon spheres into trays of powdered basaltic rock. The experiment performed six impacts of small spheres into trays of lunar regolith at velocities from 1 centimeter/second to 100 centimeters/second. The ejects from these impacts were measured with video camcorders for quantity, launch angle, and velocity distribution.

Experimental Objectives:

1. Measure the impact velocities and resulting rebound velocities to high precision (within 1 percent).
2. Identify the transition regime form low-velocity collisions where no mass is ejected to conditions where craters are formed and mass is ejected as a result of the impact.
3. Determine the mass and velocity distribution of the ejected material as a function of impact parameters.
4. Determine the dependence of coefficient of restitution (a measurement of how well the projectile "sticks" to the target material) on impact velocities for velocities ranging between 1 and 100 cm/sec.

---

LASP Involvement (More)

Engineering:

The COLLIDE experiment was designed and built at LASP by engineering students at the University of Colorado with the help of LASP engineering professionals.

Science:

LASP scientist are performing analysis on the COLLIDE-2 data. The LASP Principal Investigator is Joshua Colwell.

involvementColumn