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An Analysis of Recent Major Breakups in he Low Earth Orbit RegionOf the 190 known satellite breakups between 1961 and 2006, only one generated more than 500 cataloged fragments. The event was the explosion of the Pegasus Hydrazine Auxiliary Propulsion System in 1996, adding 713 fragments to the U.S. Satellite Catalog. Since the beginning of 2007; however, the near-Earth environment has been subjected to several major breakups, including the Fengyun-1C anti-satellite test and the explosion of Briz-M in 2007, the unusual breakup of Cosmos 2421 in 2008, and the collision between Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 in 2009. Combined, these events added more than 5000 large (> or equal 10 cm) fragments to the environment. Detailed analysis of the radar cross section measurements and orbit histories of the fragments from these major events reveals several unusual characteristics in their size and area-to-mass ratio distributions. The characteristics could be related to the material composition of the parent vehicles, the nature of the breakup, and the composition and physical property of the fragments. In addition, the majority of these fragments are expected to remain in orbit for at least decades. Their long-term impact to the environment is analyzed using the NASA orbital debris evolutionary model, LEGEND. Descriptions of these analyses and a summary are included in this paper.
Document ID
20100006949
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Liou, Jer-Chyi
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Anz-Meador, P. D.
(Jacobs Technology Inc. Tullahoma, TN, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2010
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Report/Patent Number
JSC-CN-19713
Meeting Information
Meeting: 61st International Astronautical Congress
Location: Prague
Country: Czech Republic
Start Date: September 27, 2010
End Date: October 1, 2010
Sponsors: International Astronautical Federation
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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