Microparticle Impact

The Johnson Space Center curates a variety of spacecraft and spacecraft components that have been impacted by natural and man-made microparticulates. These include the impact-preserving materials captured as micro-impacts in unique environments such as the Genesis and Stardust sample return capsules, pieces of Surveyor 3, the long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF), the Solar Maximum satellite, the European Recoverable Carrier (EuReCa), the MIR space station and the Hubble Space Telescope.

The diversity of the current micro-impact collection offers the opportunity to study  micrometeoroid impacts, which directly sample asteroids, comets and other extraterrestrial bodies, and also variety of environmental effects.

Ingestion of microparticle impact data into the Astromat Synthesis Database will be completed in 2023.