The physics of intact capture

Abstract

The ability to capture projectiles intact at hypervelocities in underdense media open a new area of study in physics. Underdense material behaves markedly different than solid, liquid, or gas upon hypervelocity impact. This new phenomenon enables applications in science that would either not be possible or would be very costly by other means. This phenomenon has been fully demonstrated in the laboratory and validated in space. Even more interesting is the fact that this hypervelocity intact capture was accomplished passively. A better understanding of the physics of intact capture will lead to improvements in intact capture. A collection of physical observations of this phenomenon is presented here.