First results from the cosmic dust aggregation experiment codag
J. Blum, G. Wurm, T. Poppe, S. Kempf, T. Kozasa;
AdSpR, 2002, 29, 497
ABSTRACT:The Cosmic Dust Aggregation Experiment (CODAG), an experimental simulation of the onset of planet formation, was successfully flown on STS-95
(October/November 1998) and on Maser 8 (May 1999).
The main objective of the CODAG
experiment was a direct observation of the Brownian motion-induced coagulation
process of micron-sized dust particles.
To overcome rapid sedimentation of
the dust grains in the rarefied gas atmosphere, experiments were
conducted in a long-duration microgravity environment.
In the experiment, we
observed that within several minutes the initially deagglomerated dust grains
formed fractal dust aggregates due to their thermal motion and subsequent
mutual collisions.
The results from this experiment are the first
experimental proof that the concept of pre-planetary dust coagulation is correct.
PERSOKEY:dust, size distribution, ,
CODE: blum2002