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Meteoroids are Dangerous to SpacecraftMeteoroids put dents in Shuttle windows much like bouncing gravel puts dents in your car's windshield. However, meteoroids move at such high speeds that they can partly vaporize the surfaces they strike! A dust particle (smaller than a meteoroid) hit the STEREO spacecraft and produced this fountain of smaller particles. When a meteoroid breaks up, its "shrapnel" can also be dangerous. Even when meteoroids don't damage a spacecraft, they can cause problems. Here, a small meteoroid bumped a camera on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), causing wiggles in this scan of the lunar surface. Meteoroids and pieces of space junk create rough edges on the outside of the Space Station that can damage space suits. The astronauts' gloves had to be thickened to help prevent them from ripping.
Document ID
20170008147
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Presentation
Authors
Moorhead, Althea V.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 31, 2017
Publication Date
June 17, 2017
Subject Category
Space Transportation And Safety
Report/Patent Number
M17-6096
Report Number: M17-6096
Meeting Information
Meeting: NASA in the Park
Location: Huntsville, AL
Country: United States
Start Date: June 17, 2017
Sponsors: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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