Osiris-REX and HAYABUSA2 data make bennu and ryugu unparalleled natural laboratories for understanding regolith properties and processes on small bodies. Observed boulder and impact crater…

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) was awarded a $310,614 research grant by a civilian federal agency effective January 1, 2022, with completion targeted for December 31, 2026. The grant supports laboratory-based impact experiments designed to advance understanding of regolith properties and surface processes on small asteroids, specifically Bennu and Ryugu, which were the subjects of NASA's OSIRIS-REX and Hayabusa2 missions. SwRI will conduct impact experiments using CI and coarse regolith simulant materials to generate a comprehensive library of experimentally-produced impact morphologies that can be directly correlated with remote sensing data collected from these asteroids during the missions.

The research addresses critical gaps in understanding mechanical properties and surface dynamics on small bodies, particularly regarding boulder morphologies, impact crater formation, thermal inertia characteristics, and unexpected active surface phenomena observed on Bennu. By establishing empirical relationships between laboratory impact results and geologic features documented by the orbital missions, this work will provide essential constraints on the mechanical behavior and impact response of asteroid surfaces. The no-set-aside grant reflects SwRI's demonstrated capability to compete in open competition, consistent with the institute's extensive portfolio of NASA-funded planetary science research initiatives.

Osiris-REX and HAYABUSA2 data make bennu and ryugu unparalleled natural laboratories for understanding regolith properties and processes on small bodies. Observed boulder and impact crater morphologies, unexpected thermal inertia data, and the surprising discovery of bennu s active surface raise important questions/mysteries about mechanical properties and surface processes and the role of meteoroid impacts. The proposed project consists of laboratory impact experiments into blocks and slabs of CI simulant and coarse regolith simulants to aid interpretation of observed boulder and impact crater morphologies on bennu and ryugu. The major focus of the proposed effort will be to build a library of experimentally-produced impact morphologies in appropriate analog materials that will allow the linkage between geologic interpretation of remote sensing data gathered during the osiris-REX and HAYABUSA2 missions and constraints on mechanical properties/response of the asteroids surfaces.