Acceleration of particles in light gas guns for micrometeorid/space debris simulation.

Light gas gun acceleration techniques and respective facilities are described. Concerning the effective mass range of particles, light gas guns are well appropriate tools for experimental micrometeoroid and space debris simulation, e.g. Aluminium spheres in the diameter range of millimeters can be accelerated to velocities in the order of 10 km/s. The application of light gas gun acceleration techniques within several prominent space projects is demonstrated.