Descripción del proyecto
Nueva técnica para comprender terrenos extraterrestres
El comportamiento de las superficies planetarias resulta fundamental para la exploración espacial. Sin embargo, las técnicas actuales para comprender la mecánica del suelo en la Tierra son insuficientes en entornos de baja gravedad, lo cual dificulta los preparativos y las operaciones de las misiones espaciales. En este sentido, el equipo del proyecto GRAVITE, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación, desarrollará un laboratorio único de gravedad variable que puede modificar el nivel de gravedad individual de cada experimento hasta mil veces inferior a la gravedad terrestre, replicando pequeñas superficies corporales. Ello permitirá explorar minuciosamente el comportamiento de los materiales granulares en condiciones de gravedad reducida. Los datos experimentales de GRAVITE serán inestimables para perfeccionar los modelos existentes, facilitar el diseño de la futura instrumentación espacial y garantizar la interpretación exacta de los datos adquiridos por las misiones espaciales.
Objetivo
As the number of space missions involving surface interactions increases, so does the need to understand the behaviour of planetary surfaces. The surface properties also are crucial for human exploration, and play a key role in the evolution of planetary bodies. In terrestrial geophysics and planetary exploration, two techniques are widely used for in-situ determination of soil mechanical properties: seismic sounding, and penetration testing. However, the GRAVITE PI hypothesizes that these techniques are not directly applicable for space exploration due to implicit assumptions that become invalid in low-gravity environments, and that this has resulted in erroneous interpretations of data from multiple space missions.
Whereas others use limited experimental data points, numerical simulations or untested extrapolations, GRAVITE will build a unique high-performance, low and variable gravity laboratory to extensively explore, for the first time, the complex interactions between particle size, friction and cohesion in the response of granular materials to both small and large deformations, under vacuum, and in reduced-gravity conditions.
The GRAVITE facility, capable of reaching gravity levels three orders of magnitude less than Earth’s gravity (in order to simulate small body surfaces), and of finely adjusting the gravity level of each individual experiment, will bridge an existing gap in facilities and provide exceptional experimental data covering a wide range of gravity conditions. The GRAVITE data from two custom experiments will be used to test the limits of existing theories, and validate new models accounting for previously unexplored regimes. As such, GRAVITE will provide the planetary science and exploration communities with much needed models that can be used to predict and interpret the behaviour of extra-terrestrial surface materials. The results will have direct applications to current and future space missions that interact with planetary surfaces.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyspace exploration
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringgeotechnics
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanetary geology
- natural sciencesphysical sciencescondensed matter physicssoft matter physics
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesgeophysics
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsInstitución de acogida
31055 Toulouse
Francia