Mars and Phobos Impact Processes

Impact cratering provides valuable insight into the near-surface regions of planetary surfaces. In order to understand the impact process on the surfaces of other planets and small Solar System objects, impact experiments have been conducted for decades. However, in a substantial number of these studies, the simulant material constituting the target (and to some extent the impactor) was a proxy, often very different from the real nature of the objects being studied in either composition and/or mechanical properties. This research project, co-funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the University of Kent (UoK), aims to find out whether the use of current Solar System simulant materials affects our understanding and interpretation of the impact cratering processes occurring on Mars.