Laboratory experiments on cometary materials

Abstract

Laboratory experiments to simulate cometary materials and their processing contribute to the investigation of the properties and evolution of comets. Experimental methods can produce both refractory materials and frozen volatiles with chemical, structural, and morphological characteristics that reproduce those of materials observed and/or expected in comets. Systematic analyses of such samples, before and after energetic processing by various agents effective in the solar system, provide a wealth of useful quantitative information. Such data permit a more complete interpretation of observations, performed remotely or in situ, and suggest ideas about the chemical and physical evolution of cometary dust and ice. Finally, laboratory results help to predict the environmental conditions that future space missions, such as the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission, will experience, and thus aid in properly planning mission and instrument development.