中国空间科学技术 ›› 2023, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (6): 25-31.doi: 10.16708/j.cnki.1000-758X.2023.0080

• 空间科学与试验专栏 • 上一篇    下一篇

小行星物质组成研究新方法探索

程雅苹,杨勇,郭万磊   

  1. 1 北京卫星环境工程研究所,北京100094
    2 可靠性与环境工程技术重点实验室,北京100094
    3 中国科学院高能物理研究所,北京100049
  • 出版日期:2023-12-25 发布日期:2023-12-12

New methods for studying the composition of asteroids

CHENG Yaping,YANG Yong,GUO Wanlei   

  1. 1 Beijing Institute of Satellite Environmental Engineering,Beijing 100094,China
    2 Key Laboratory of Reliability and Environmental Engineering Technology,Beijing 100094,China
    3 Institute of High Energy Physics,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China
  • Published:2023-12-25 Online:2023-12-12

摘要: 小行星携带着太阳系形成初期原始成分的信息,是研究“一黑两暗三起源”太阳系起源问题的活化石。有些小行星含有稀土、金属等元素,探明小行星的物质组成是展开太空资源利用的前提。目前的天体组分研究手段,例如光谱分析和实验室样品分析等,存在非原位、精度差、易污染等问题。银河系宇宙线诱发伽马谱是一种值得探索的新方法,可用于研究小行星物质组成。通过蒙特卡洛模拟分析,对01s宇宙线辐照下诱发产生的伽马能谱进行了研究,并报告了铁、氧等元素的激发特征伽马谱,与权威核数据库一致。基于极大似然估计数理分析方法,对S型小行星的数值模拟伽马谱进行了反解,并得出与输入的真实值符合良好的结果,元素质量百分比的绝对误差小于5%。这项研究初步论证了基于诱发伽马谱实现S型小行星物质组成原位识别的可行性,并展示了超高的灵敏度,能够检测质量百分比低至3%的元素。该方法还适用于无大气层的天体(例如月球或火星),用于了解天体物质成分,服务太空资源开发利用的工程目标。此外,通过对搭载了伽马谱仪的科学数据进行物理解释,可以了解天体的地质历史,进而回答太阳系起源演化问题。

关键词: 宇宙线, 伽马探测, 原位分析, 蒙特卡洛数值模拟, 小行星

Abstract: Asteroids carry information on the original composition of the solar system at the beginning of its formation.They are the living fossils for the study of the origin of the solar system.Some asteroids contain elements such as rare earths and metals,and the exploration of the material composition of asteroids is a prerequisite for space resource utilization.The current means of studying the composition of celestial bodies,such as spectral analysis and laboratory sample analysis,have problems such as noninsitu measurement,poor accuracy and susceptibility to contamination.The gamma ray induced by galactic cosmic ray may serve as a promising method to identify the composition of asteroids insitu.The gamma spectra induced by 0.1s cosmic ray irradiation were studied,and the characteristic gamma spectra of iron and oxygen were demonstrated,which are consistent with the authoritative nuclear database.The deconvolution of the simulated gamma spectra of S-type asteroids was performed using maximum likelihood estimation,and the deconvolution results are in good agreement with the true values.The absolute errors of element mass percentages are less than 5%.The method also shows an ultra-high sensitivity and can detect elements with low mass percentages as low as 3%.The method is also applicable to non-atmospheric objects,such as the Moon or Mars,to understand the material composition of the celestial bodies,therefore serving the engineering goals for space resources exploitation.In addition,based on the scientific data from a gamma spectrometer payload,it is possible to understand the geological history of the celestial bodies and to help answer the question of the solar system evolution.

Key words: cosmic rays, gamma detection, in-situ resource utilization, Monte Carlo simulations, asteroid exploration