ARISE: A granular matter experiment on the International Space Station

TL;DR

This paper presents the design and initial findings of a granular matter experiment conducted on the International Space Station, exploring particle behavior under microgravity with various physical influences.

Contribution

It introduces a novel microgravity experiment setup for granular matter, providing qualitative observations of particle dynamics and interactions in space.

Findings

Observation of collisional cooling effects

Detection of collective particle motion

Influence of electrostatic forces on interactions

Abstract

We developed an experiment to study different aspects of granular matter under microgravity. The 1.5U small experiment was carried out on the International Space Station. About 3500 almost identical spherical glass particles with 856 um diameter were placed in a container of 50*50 mm cross section. Adjusting the height between 5 and 50 mm, the filling factor can be varied. The sample was vibrated under different frequencies and amplitudes. The majority of the data are video images of the particles motion. Here, we first give an overview of the general setup and a first qualitative account of different phenomena observed in about 700 experimental runs. These phenomena include collisional cooling, collective motion via gas-cluster coupling, and the influence of electrostatic forces on particle-particle interactions.