Post-flight measurements of meteoroid/debris impact features on EURECA and the Hubble solar array

Drolshagen, G.; McDonnell, J. A. M.; Stevenson, T.; Aceti, R.; Gerlach, L.

doi:10.1016/0273-1177(95)98756-e

Cited by 11 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Relatively large debris can be monitored by ground observation, but smaller debris is detected and analyzed on the surface of retrieved parts of spacecraft. Retrieved spacecraft parts have been analyzed in the following missions: LDEF (84-90, NASA/ESA) (Mackay et al, 1993;Miao and Stark, 2001), EURECA (92-93, ESA) (Drolshagen et al, 1996), HST (89-93, NASA/ESA) (Drolshagen et al, 1995;FIG. 2. One Exposure Panel (EP) consists of 20 Exposure Units (EUs).…”

Section: Capture Panelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Four-Year Operation of Tanpopo: Astrobiology Exposure and Micrometeoroid Capture Experiments on the JEM Exposed Facility of the International Space Station

et al. 2021

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The Tanpopo experiment was the first Japanese astrobiology mission on board the International Space Station. It included exposure experiments of microbes and organic compounds as well as a capture experiment of hypervelocity impacting microparticles. We deployed three Exposure Panels, each consisting of 20 Exposure Units that contained microbes, organic compounds, an alanine UV dosimeter or an ionizing radiation dosimeter. The three Exposure Panels were situated on the zenith face of the Exposed Experiment Handrail Attachment Mechanism (ExHAM) that was pointing in zenith direction toward space, which was attached on a handrail of the Japanese Experiment Module (Kibo) Exposed Facility ( JEM-EF) outside the International Space Station. The three Exposure Panels were one by one retrieved and returned to the ground after approximately 1, 2, and 3 years of exposure to the space environment. Capture Panels, each of which contained one or two blocks of amorphous silica aerogel, were exposed to collect hypervelocity impact microparticles. Possible captured particles may include micrometeoroids, human-made orbital debris, and natural terrestrial particles. Each year, Capture Panels containing from 11 to 12 aerogel blocks were attached to the three faces of the ExHAM (pointing to zenith, ram, and port); they remained in place for about 1 year and were then returned to the laboratory. This process was repeated three times, in total, during 2015-2018. Additional exposure of a Capture Panel facing ram was conducted between 2018 and 2019. Once the aerogel blocks were returned to the laboratory, they were encapsulated in dedicated transparent plastic cases and optically inspected by a specially designed microscopic system. Once located and recorded, hypervelocity impact signatures were excavated one by one and distributed for further detailed analyses. The apparatus, operation, and environmental factors of all the Tanpopo experiments are summarized in this article.

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Section: Capture Panelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Four-Year Operation of Tanpopo: Astrobiology Exposure and Micrometeoroid Capture Experiments on the JEM Exposed Facility of the International Space Station

et al. 2021

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“…For populations of objects of size below this threshold, there exist statistical models that can be updated by feedback information coming from servicing missions on existing space systems (e.g. returned parts of Hubble's solar panels after space repair [8] [9]) or from observed effects on the satellite or on its trajectory (e.g. impact on Jason-1 deduced from attitude and electrical current disturbances [10]).…”

Section: Threats Impacting On Mission and Space Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space systems' vulnerability assessment to space debris: A methodology and a program

Bertrand

Prudhomme

Merit

et al. 2012

2012 IEEE Aerospace Conference

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A method to assess vulnerability of a space mission due to the threat of space debris is presented in this paper. It handles different effects of the threat on the space system used to fulfill the mission: effects from which the system can protect itself from, by reacting, and effects the system must endure. The method is presented through the example of vulnerability assessment of an Earth observation mission, performed by a single satellite. Different effects of space debris are considered on the satellite, depending whether they are large enough to be tracked or not. Numerical results are presented and analyzed to illustrate the proposed approach.

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“…Regular inspections of the NASA Space Shuttle selected surfaces are performed after each mission [6,7] . Returned Hubble Space Telescope (HST) solar panels yield impacts [8]. Surfaces from missions dedicated to impact studies such as LDEF and EURECA have also been recovered and analyzed [9].…”

Section: Debris Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Though these objects are generally much less massive than their intact parents, they still represent dangerous possible impactors. Existing international programs of orbital debris study are dedicated to impact testing with accompanying simulations [1][2][3], remote and in-situ measurements of the near-Earth environment [4][5][6][7][8][9], and debris environment modeling [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. National safety standards with respect to the protection of spacecraft from 1 https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20070024897 2018-05-09T04:35:43+00:00Z orbital debris impacts have grown around these research efforts [28][29][30][31].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The predicted growth of the low-Earth orbit space debris environment — an assessment of future risk for spacecraft

Krisko

2007

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G:

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Abstract:Space debris is a worldwide-recognized issue concerning the safety of commercial, military, and exploration spacecraft. The space debris environment includes both naturally occuring meteoroids and objects in Earth orbit that are generated by human activity, termed orbital debris. Space agencies around the world are addressing the dangers of debris collisions to both crewed and robotic spacecraft. In the United States, the Orbital Debris Program Office at the NASA Johnson Space Center leads the effort to categorize debris, predict its growth, and formulate mitigation policy for the environment from low Earth orbit (LEO) through geosynchronous orbit (GEO). This paper presents recent results derived from the NASA long-term debris environment model, LEGEND. It includes the revised NASA sodium potassium droplet model, newly corrected for a factor of two over-estimation of the droplet population. The study indicates a LEO environment that is already highly collisionally active among orbital debris larger than 1 cm in size. Most of the modeled collision events are non-catastrophic (i.e., They lead to a cratering of the target, but no large scale fragmentation.). But they are potentially mission-ending, and take place between impactors smaller than 10 cm and targets larger than 10 cm. Given the small size of the impactor these events would likely be undetectable by present-day measurement means. The activity continues into the future as would be expected. Impact rates of about four per year are predicted by the current study within the next 30 years, with the majority of targets being abandoned intacts (spent upper stages and spacecraft). Still, operational spacecraft do show a small collisional activity, one that increases over time as the small fragment population increases. IntroductionThe growth of orbital debris in low Earth orbit (LEO) and beyond has continued since the beginning of the space age. The launching into orbit and abandonment of spent satellites (i.e., upper stages and spacecraft (payloads)) at end-of-life has certainly contributed to that growth. However, more insidious sources such as accidental explosions of satellites and release of material or objects by design or accident have contributed to much higher fluxes of orbiting debris over the years. Though these objects are generally much less massive than their intact parents, they still represent dangerous possible impactors. Existing international programs of orbital debris study are dedicated to impact testing with accompanying simulations [1][2][3], remote and in-situ measurements of the near-Earth environment [4][5][6][7][8][9], and debris environment modeling [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. National safety standards with respect to the protection of spacecraft from 1 https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20070024897 2018-05-09T04:35:43+00:00Z orbital debris impacts have grown around these research efforts [28][29][30][31]. Recognizing the issue as international has led to cooperation in the study ...

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Post-flight measurements of meteoroid/debris impact features on EURECA and the Hubble solar array

Cited by 11 publications

References 1 publication

Four-Year Operation of Tanpopo: Astrobiology Exposure and Micrometeoroid Capture Experiments on the JEM Exposed Facility of the International Space Station

Four-Year Operation of Tanpopo: Astrobiology Exposure and Micrometeoroid Capture Experiments on the JEM Exposed Facility of the International Space Station

Space systems' vulnerability assessment to space debris: A methodology and a program

The predicted growth of the low-Earth orbit space debris environment — an assessment of future risk for spacecraft

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