Investigating the Collisional and Dynamical Evolution of Comets

PI将进行一系列实验室实验，以研究彗星表面如何受到撞击的影响。利用NASA约翰逊空间中心(JSC)实验撞击实验室的设施，她将准备由已知存在于彗星中或适合用于彗星材料的难熔矿物组成的目标；目标可能是固体晶体，被粉碎，或与低密度尘冰混合物中的挥发物结合。然后，这些目标将以几公里/S的速度撞击，这是从主小行星带到柯伊伯带的撞击区域的特征。产生的受影响物质将通过各种显微和光谱分析技术进行分析，以确定(1)是否形成了与在Wild 2彗星尘埃样本(由星尘航天器获得)中观察到的激波特征相匹配的激波特征，以及(2)受影响物质是否能够解释观测到的彗星和特洛伊小行星的中红外光谱。其目标是获得对碰撞驱动的演化的约束，这将阐明彗星和小行星的动力学历史。来自西班牙裔服务机构PI大学的学生将参加JSC进行这项研究的学年项目和暑期实习，并将为培训K-8教师的通识教育项目的学生开发课程

The PI will conduct a series of laboratory experiments to study how the surfaces of comets are affected by impacts. Using facilities at the Experimental Impact Laboratory at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), she will prepare targets consisting of refractory minerals that are either known to be present in comets or are suitable analogs for cometary material; the targets may be solid crystals, crushed, or combined with volatiles in low density dust-ice mixtures. The targets will then be impacted at velocities of a few km/s, characteristic of impacts in regions from the Main Asteroid Belt to the Kuiper Belt. The resulting impacted material will be analyzed by a variety of microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, in order to determine (1) whether shock features matching those observed in Comet Wild 2 dust samples (obtained by the Stardust spacecraft) are formed, and (2) whether impacted materials can account for the observed mid-infrared spectra of comets and Trojan asteroids. The goal is to obtain constraints on collision-driven evolution that will elucidate the dynamical histories of comets and asteroids. Students from the PI's university, a Hispanic Serving Institution, will participate in academic-year projects and summer internships at JSC conducting this research, and curricula will be developed for students in the Liberal Studies program that trains K-8 teachers