Dynamical development of strength and stability of asteroid material under 440 GeV proton beam irradiation
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The material properties of asteroid samples exhibit a dynamic response under high-energy irradiation, which no experiments have yet been able to cover. However, studying the material response of asteroid material is relevant in several fields. For instance, proposed asteroid deflection techniques, all require the material behavior of the object to be known very precisely to model deflection orbits accurately and to predict the transfer of kinetic energy. In our experimental campaign at CERN's HiRadMat facility, we have, for the first time, irradiated an iron-meteorite sample with 440 GeV protons delivered by the Super Proton Synchrotron. Laser Doppler Vibrometry was utilized to measure the thermally induced stress waves in real-time, produced by energy deposition in the sample. Our work suggests that one can deposit much higher amounts of energy into asteroid material without destruction than one would assume from the material parameters as measured before high-energy irradiation.
