HCN Production via Impact Ejecta Reentry During the Late Heavy Bombardment

AbstractIn the radargram obtained by the high-frequency lunar penetrating radar onboard the Chang’E-3 mission, we notice a potential subsurface cavity that has a smaller permittivity compared to the surrounding materials. The two-way travel time between the top and bottom boundaries of the potential cavity is ~ 21 ns, and the entire zone is located within the continuous ejecta deposits of the Ziwei crater, which generally have similar physical properties to typical lunar regolith. We carried out numerical simulations for electromagnetic wave propagation to investigate the nature of this low-permittivity zone. Assuming different shapes for this zone, a comprehensive comparison between our model results and the observed radargram suggests that the roof of this zone is convex and slightly inclined to the south. Modeling subsurface materials with different relative permittivities suggests that the low-permittivity zone is most likely formed due to a subsurface cavity. The maximum vertical dimension of this potential cavity is ~ 3.1 m. While the continuous ejecta deposits of Ziwei crater are largely composed of pre-impact regolith, competent mare basalts were also excavated, which is evident by the abundant meter-scale boulders on the wall and rim of Ziwei crater. We infer that the subsurface cavity is supported by excavated large boulders, which were stacked during the energetic emplacement of the continuous ejecta deposits. However, the exact geometry of this cavity (e.g., the width) cannot be constrained using the single two-dimensional radar profile. This discovery indicates that large voids formed during the emplacement of impact ejecta should be abundant on the Moon, which contributes to the high bulk porosity of the lunar shallow crust, as discovered by the GRAIL mission. Our results further suggest that ground penetrating radar is capable of detecting and deciphering subsurface cavities such as lava tubes, which can be applied in future lunar and deep space explorations.

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Constraints on the origins of iron silicide spherules in ultrahigh‐temperature distal impact ejecta

Meteoritics and Planetary Science ◽

10.1111/maps.13662 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sergei Batovrin ◽

Boris Lipovsky ◽

Yury Gulbin ◽

Yury Pushkarev ◽

Yury A. Shukolyukov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Iron Silicide ◽

Impact Ejecta ◽

Ultrahigh Temperature

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Origin of the Ganymede–Callisto dichotomy by impacts during the late heavy bombardment

Nature Geoscience ◽

10.1038/ngeo746 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

pp. 164-167 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

Amy C. Barr ◽

Robin M. Canup

Keyword(s):

Late Heavy Bombardment

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DART and LICIACUBE: Documenting Kinetic Impact

10.5194/epsc2021-436 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew Cheng ◽

Elizabetta Dotto ◽

Eugene Fahnestock ◽

Vincenzo Della Corte ◽

Nancy Chabot ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Time Delay ◽

Velocity Distribution ◽

Physical Properties ◽

Optical Depth ◽

Depth Profiles ◽

Full Characterization ◽

Approach Distance ◽

Impact Ejecta ◽

The Impact

The NASA Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission will demonstrate asteroid deflection by a kinetic impactor. DART will impact Dimorphos, the secondary member of the (65803) Didymos system, in late September to early October, 2022 in order to change the binary orbit period. DART will carry a 6U CubeSat called LICIACube, contributed by the Italian Space Agency, to document the DART impact and to observe the impact ejecta. LICIACube will be released by DART 10 days prior to Didymos encounter, and LICIACube will fly by Dimorphos at closest approach distance of about 51 km and with a closest approach time delay of about 167 s after the DART impact. LICIACube will observe the structure and evolution of the DART impact ejecta plume and will obtain images of the surfaces of both bodies at best ground sampling about 1.4 m per pixel. LICIACube imaging importantly includes the non-impact hemisphere of the target body, the side not imaged by DART. &#160; The LICIACube flyby trajectory, notably the closest approach distance and the time delay of closest approach, are designed to optimize the study of ejecta plume evolution without exposing the satellite to impact hazard. LICIACube imaging will determine the direction of the ejecta plume and the ejection angles, and will further help to determine the ejecta momentum transfer efficiency &#946;. The ejecta plume structure, as it evolves over time, is determined by the amount of ejecta that has reached a given altitude at a given time. The LICIACube plume images enable characterization of the ejecta mass versus velocity distribution, which is strongly dependent on target properties like strength and porosity and is therefore a powerful diagnostic of the DART impact, complementary to measurements of the DART impact crater by the ESA Hera mission which will arrive at Didymos in 2026. Hera will measure crater radius and crater volume to determine the total volume of ejecta, which together with a ejecta mass-velocity distribution gives a full characterization of the DART impact. &#160; Models of the ejecta plume evolution as imaged by LICIACube show how LICIACube images can discriminate between different target physical properties (mainly strength and porosity), thereby allowing inferences of the magnitude of the ejecta momentum. Measured ejecta plume optical depth profiles can distinguish between gravity-controlled and strength-controlled impact cases and help determine target physical properties. LICIACube ejecta plume images further provide information on the direction of the ejecta momentum as well as the magnitude, requiring full 2-D simulations of the plume images. We will present new simulation model optical depth profiles across the plume at arbitrary positions. We thank NASA for support of the DART project at JHU/APL, under Contract # NNN06AA01C, Task Order # NNN15AA05T. The Italian LICIACube team acknowledges financial support from Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI, contract No. 2019-31-HH.0 CUP F84I190012600).

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