Subnanosecond laser ablation of asteroid simulants has been studied, and direct force measurements were made. A 0.7 ns pulsed laser was used, with a 40 kHz pulse repetition frequency, 1064 nm wavelength, and 33 W average power. High-fidelity simulants for carbonaceous chondrite meteorites of types CM, CR, and CI, as well as pyroxene rock and 6061 aluminum were ablated. The force response over 500 ms of ablation was measured using a load cell. In addition, the samples were weighed before and after ablation to determine the mass removal rate. Based on these measurements, the momentum coupling coefficient, specific impulse, and ablation efficiency were calculated. The asteroid analog materials were found to have a modestly higher momentum coupling coefficient than aluminum, although the specific impulse and efficiency were much lower. For asteroid mitigation missions, the asteroid itself is used as the propellant, and so a low specific impulse poses no problem.

研究了亚纳秒激光对小行星模拟物的烧蚀，并进行了直接力测量。使用0.7 ns脉冲激光，脉冲重复频率为40 kHz，波长为1064 nm，平均功率为33W。消融了CM，CR和CI型碳质球粒陨石的高保真模拟物，以及辉石岩和6061铝。使用称重传感器测量在500毫秒消融过程中的力响应。另外，在消融之前和之后对样品进行称重以确定质量去除率。基于这些测量，可以计算出动量耦合系数，比冲和消融效率。尽管比冲和效率要低得多，但发现小行星类似物材料的动量耦合系数略高于铝。