Modification of Roberts' Theory for Rocket Exhaust Plumes Eroding Lunar Soil
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
2021-04-13 v1 Fluid Dynamics
Abstract
Roberts' model of lunar soil erosion beneath a landing rocket has been updated in several ways to predict the effects of future lunar landings. The model predicts, among other things, the number of divots that would result on surrounding hardware due to the impact of high velocity particulates, the amount and depth of surface material removed, the volume of ejected soil, its velocity, and the distance the particles travel on the Moon. The results are compared against measured results from the Apollo program and predictions are made for mitigating the spray around a future lunar outpost.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2104.05198,
title = {Modification of Roberts' Theory for Rocket Exhaust Plumes Eroding Lunar Soil},
author = {Philip T. Metzger and John E. Lane and Christopher D. Immer},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2104.05198},
year = {2021}
}
Comments
8 pages, 8 figures