Description

Two pieces of lead, both of which have holes caused by the meteorite simulator, which fires pellets at high speed to simulate meteorites colliding with spacecrafts. Original caption: "The deep crater in the block of lead at the left was caused by a lead pellet the size of a BB shot. The crater is half an inch wide aand [sic] half and inch deep and shows what would happen to the mettallic skin of a space vehicle struck by a meteorite. Lead block right with a thin protective metal covering shows far less damage from similar pellet fired at the same speed. Researchers at MIT ar simulating meteorite impacts on space vehicles using an unusual high speed gun in lab of Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics. This 20-foot rifle range is used by MIT aeroelasticity and structure lab of Dept. of A and A. Lead pellet is fired from end in foreground and reaches speed of 7,000 miles per hour before hitting target at end where lab members are standing. The range allows researchers to simulate what happens when small meteorite collides with space vehicle."