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Debris impact on Earth-orbiting spacecraftThe accumulation of Earth-orbiting space debris leads to important new design considerations. Some 5,000 orbiting objects, many of them explosion fragments, are currently being tracked and future collision of these objects with each other is predicted. These collisions will occur at high velocities. Each collision will be explosive, ejecting thousands, of new orbiting objects, in turn increasing the frequency of future collisions. The debris population may thus become self-regenerative, and the future flux of orbiting debris will exceed that of meteoroids. As a result, a large space structure in Earth-orbit for several years has a significant probability of impact by debris objects. As a design problem, debris impact is significantly different from meteoroid impact. Protection against such large objects may require structural measures. The consideration of debris impact in the design of large, Earth-orbiting spacecraft is recommended.
Document ID
19850013924
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Smith, D. G.
(Tennessee Technological Univ. Cookeville, TN, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1985
Publication Information
Publication: Alabama Univ. Res. Rept.: 1984 NASA/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (NASA-CR
Subject Category
Astronautics (General)
Accession Number
85N22234
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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