Studying Surfaces of Airless Bodies in the Laboratory

Our research focuses on simulating processes that occur in extraterrestrial environments through laboratory studies. These laboratory studies are typically aimed at producing icy or rocky samples under conditions appropriate to the environment in question, whether that be icy satellites, asteroids, the Moon, etc. Once characterized, we modify our samples in a manner similar to what may occur over time on an airless bodies surface, with the main goal being able to evaluate and predict how extraterrestrial surfaces may evolve. Examples of modification processes that we study in our laboratory are effects of ionizing (electron and ion) radiation, micrometeorite impacts (pulsed laser irradiation) and thermally-induced chemical reactions. Here we will present some of our laboratory recent work on condensed gases and mineral surfaces.