First results derived from a drop-tower testing system for granular flow in a microgravity environment

Because of the low-gravity on the Moon and Mars, landslides there have characteristics that are very different from those observed in a conventional gravity environment. These include highly marked dynamic characteristics, evidence of fierce movement at high speed and on a large scale. One of the key problems in extra-planetary exploration is understanding the behavior of granular material flows under the influence of low gravity. A drop-tower testing system situated in Beijing has been developed and used to investigate granular flow in a microgravity environment. A set of granular flow tests was performed in both normal and microgravity environments, during which the configurations of sand flows were captured by the monitoring system. Preliminary results provide fundamental information for the future exploration of planetary landscapes.