Magrathea: Dust growth experiment in micro-gravity conditions

TL;DR

Magrathea is a proposed microgravity experiment mission to study dust aggregation processes crucial for planetesimal formation, involving 28 experiments with different dust types in a dedicated satellite.

Contribution

This paper introduces the design and scientific objectives of the Magrathea mission, enabling detailed study of dust growth in microgravity conditions for the first time.

Findings

Design of a 6 m^3 test chamber for dust experiments

Capability to record over 1 million collisions per experiment

Mission cost estimated at around 438 million Euros

Abstract

One of the least understood processes in astrophysics is the formation of planetesimals from molecules and dust within protoplanetary disks. In fact, current methods have strong limitations when it comes to model the full dynamics in this phase of planet formation, where small dust aggregates collide and grow into bigger clusters. That is why microgravity experiments of the phenomena involved are important to reveal the underlying physics. Because previous experiments had some limitations, in particular short durations and constrained dimensions, a new mission to study the very first stages of planet formation is proposed here. This mission, called Magrathea, is focused on creating the best conditions for developing these experiments, using a satellite with a 6 $m^3$ test chamber. During the mission 28 experiments are performed using different dust compositions, sizes and shapes, to better understand under which conditions dust grains stick and aggregate. Each experiment should last up to one month, with relative collision velocities of up to 5 mm/s, and initial dust sizes between 1 $\mu$m and 1 mm. At least $10^6$ collisions per experiment should be recorded, to provide statistically significant results. Based on the scientific objectives and requirements, a preliminary analysis of the payload instrumentation is performed. From that a conceptual mission and spacecraft design is developed, together with a first approach to mission programmatic and risk analysis. The solution reached is a 1000 kg spacecraft, set on a 800 km Sun-synchronous orbit, with a total mission cost of around 438 MEuros.