Abstract
This
s
tudy
is
b
est
ch
arac
teriz
ed
as
new
te
chnology
deve
lopmen
t
for
i
mpl
emen
ting
new
senso
rs
to
inve
stig
ate
t
he
opt
ical
ch
arac
teri
sti
cs
of
a
r
apidly
e
xpanding
deb
ris
c
loud
resu
lt
ing
fro
m
hypervelo
city
im
pact
r
egim
es
of
7
t
o
11
km/
s.
Our
gas
gun
s
const
itu
te
a
uniqu
e
tes
t
bed
th
at
m
atch
ope
rat
ional
condi
tions
re
levant
to
hyperve
loci
ty
i
mpac
t
encoun
tered
in
s
pace
engage
ments
.
We
have
demons
tra
ted
the
use
of
(1)
ter
ahert
z
sen
sors
,
(2
)
s
il
icon
d
iodes
for
vis
ible
reg
ime
s,
(3)
germ
anium
and
InGaAs
sensor
s
for
the
near
in
frared
regi
mes
, and
(4
) t
he Sand
ia l
igh
tning d
etec
tors
which a
re s
im
ila
r t
o th
e s
il
icon d
iodes
descr
ibed
in 2
. The
comb
inat
ion a
nd co
mple
menta
ry use
of
al
l t
hese
te
chniques
has
the
st
rong po
tent
ial
of
“the
rma
lly”
chara
cter
izing
the
ti
me
dependen
t
behav
ior
o
f
t
he
r
adia
ting
debri
s
c
loud.
Comple
ment
ary
spec
troscop
ic
me
asure
ments
p
rovide
t
empe
rature
e
st
ima
tes
of
t
he
i
mpac
t
genera
ted
debr
is
by
fi
tt
ing
it
s
spec
trum
to
a
b
lackbody
radi
ation
func
tion
.
Thi
s
debr
is
is
ti
me
dependent
as
it
s
t
ranspo
rt/
expansion
behavio
r
i
s
ch
anging
with
t
im
e.
The
r
apid
expans
ion
behavior of the debris “cools” the cloud rapidly, changing its thermal temperature characteristics with time. A variety of sensors that span over a wide spectrum, varying from visible regime to THz frequencies, now gives us the potential to cover the impact over a broader temporal regime starting from high pressures (Mbar) high temperatures (eV) to low pressures (mbar) low temperatures (less than room temperature) as the debris expands and cools.
Users
Please
log in to take part in the discussion (add own reviews or comments).