Experimental Investigation of Impulsive Coupling Characteristics of Asteroid Simulants Based on Laser Ablation Propulsion

Abstract

The ablation impulse of typical asteroid simulants irradiated by a nanosecond pulsed laser has been investigated in a vacuum environment. A torsional pendulum measurement system was constructed to calculate the impulse of laser ablation. A 10 ns pulsed laser was used, with a 1064 nm wavelength, a 900 mJ maximum pulse energy, and a millimeter-scale ablation spot diameter. Impulsive coupling characteristics of six typical targets that imitate the substance of asteroids with various laser fluences were analyzed. Furthermore, the impulse coupling coefficient curves of different materials were fitted. The results reveal that the minimum laser fluence corresponding to a measurable ablation impulse is approximately 2.5 J/cm2, and the optimum laser fluence corresponding to the maximum impulse coupling coefficient is approximately 14.0 J/cm2. The trends of the laser ablation impulse coupling curves are roughly consistent for the six materials. Impulse coupling characteristics of the six typical materials can be represented by the same polynomial within a 95% confidence interval, so a unified rule has been given. In actual deflection tasks of asteroids, the unified impulse coupling characteristic can be used to implement laser deflection techniques, especially when the material of the asteroid cannot be accurately judged in time.