Impact experiments with an impact velocity higher than 10 km/s

We accelerate glass and aluminum projectiles to a velocity higher than 10 km/s using a high power laser, GEKKO XII - HIPER at Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University. The velocity of the projectiles is estimated using high-speed streak and framing cameras. The projectiles collide with copper targets. The copper plates are recovered and craters are observed. Also, a tantalum plate as a witness plate is recovered and a large number of crates caused by ejecta impacts are observed. Thus, we can simulate the hypervelocity impacts with a velocity over 10 km/s in the laboratory.