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NASA NTRS2001

Space Debris Modeling at NASA

Since the Second European Conference on Space Debris in 1997, the Orbital Debris Program Office at the NASA Johnson Space Center has undertaken a major effort to update and improve the principal software tools employed to model the space debris environment and to evaluate mission risks. NASA's orbital debris engineering model, ORDEM, represents the current and near-term Earth orbital debris population from the largest spacecraft to the smallest debris in a manner which permits spacecraft engineers and experimenters to estimate the frequency and velocity with which a satellite may be struck by debris of different sizes. Using expanded databases and a new program design, ORDEM2000 provides a more accurate environment definition combined with a much broader array of output products in comparison with its predecessor, ORDEM96. Studies of the potential long-term space debris environment are now conducted with EVOLVE 4.0, which incorporates significant advances in debris characterization and breakup modeling. An adjunct to EVOLVE 4.0, GEO EVOLVE has been created to examine debris issues near the geosynchronous orbital regime. In support of NASA Safety Standard 1740.14, which establishes debris mitigation guidelines for all NASA space programs, a set of evaluation tools called the Debris Assessment Software (DAS) is specifically designed for program offices to determine whether they are in compliance with NASA debris mitigation guidelines. DAS 1.5 has recently been released with improved WINDOWS compatibility and graphics functions. DAS 2.0 will incorporate guideline changes in a forthcoming revision to NASA Safety Standard 1740.14. Whereas DAS contains a simplified model to calculate possible risks associated with satellite reentries, NASA's higher fidelity Object Reentry Survival Analysis Tool (ORSAT) has been upgraded to Version 5.0. With the growing awareness of the potential risks posed by uncontrolled satellite reentries to people and property on Earth, the application of both DAS and ORSAT has increased markedly in the past two years.

Johnson, Nicholas L.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Active Debris Removal - A Grand Engineering Challenge for the Twenty-First Century

The collision between Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 in 2009 underlined the potential of an ongoing collision cascade effect (the Kessler Syndrome ) in the near-Earth orbital debris environment. A 2006 NASA analysis of the instability of the debris population in the low Earth orbit (LEO, the region below 2000 km altitude) shows that the environment has reached a point where the debris population will continue to increase in the next 200 years, even without any future launches. The increase is driven by fragments generated via collisions among existing objects in LEO. In reality, the situation will be worse than this prediction because satellite launches will continue and unexpected major breakups may continue to occur. Mitigation measures commonly adopted by the international space community (such as the 25-year rule) will help, but will be insufficient to stop the population growth. To better preserve the near-Earth space environment for future generations, active debris removal (ADR) should be considered. The idea of active debris removal is not new. However, due to the monumental technical, resource, operational, legal, and political challenges associated with removing objects from orbit, it has not yet been widely considered feasible. The recent major breakup events and the environment modeling efforts have certainly reignited the interest in using active debris removal to remediate the environment. This trend is further highlighted by the National Space Policy of the United States of America, released by the White House in June 2010, where the President explicitly directs NASA and the Department of Defense to pursue research and development of technology and techniques, to mitigate and remove on-orbit debris, reduce hazards, and increase understanding of the current and future debris environment. A 2009 modeling study by the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office has shown that, in order to maintain the LEO debris population at a constant level for the next 200 years, an active debris removal of about five objects per year is needed. The targets identified for removal are those with the highest mass and collision probability products. Analyses from the study indicate that the majority of those objects are spent upper stages with masses ranging from 1 to more than 8 metric tons, residing in several altitude regions and concentrated in about 10 inclination bands. To remove five of those objects per year in a cost-effective manner truly represents a grand challenge in engineering and technology development. An end-to-end debris removal operation includes, in general terms, launches orbit rendezvous, precision tracking, stabilization (of the tumbling motion), capture, and deorbit of the targets. An ADR system deigned to remove a single object is not very cost-effective. Therefore, the repeatability of the removal system is almost a requirement. Some of the technologies involved in the ADR process do exist, but the difficulty is to make them more cost effective. Other technologies, such as ways to stabilize a massive tumbling upper stage and the capture mechanisms, are new and will require major innovative research and development efforts. This paper summarizes an updated assessment of the environment, including what needs to be done to control the population growth, and outlines the major engineering and technology challenges to carry out active debris removal to preserve the environment.

Liou, Jer-Chyi↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Flux Comparison of Master-8 and Ordem 3.1 Modelled Space Debris Population

With ESA’s Meteoroid And Space debris Terrestrial Environment Reference (MASTER-8) model and NASA’s Orbital Debris Engineering Model(ORDEM) 3.1, the two premier orbital debris engineering models have been officially released. The two models come with significant enhancements and now represent state-of-the-art orbital debris modelling for their respective agencies. Both models provide the community with estimates of the space debris environment from low Earth orbit (LEO) up to at least geostationary altitude. The MASTER population is an event-based simulation of all known events that generate debris and objects that are part of the U.S. Space Surveillance Network (SSN) catalog, which provides coverage of objects with diameters down to approximately 10cm in LEO and 1 m in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). Different models are used to simulate the artificial objects and their orbit evolution over time. These models are called “sources” since they assign an origin to each individual object and consist of fragments, solid rocket motor (SRM) remainders, sodium-potassium(NaK) droplets, paintflakes, ejecta, and multi-layer insulation (MLI) fragments. The objects from each source are characterized by having individual release mechanisms, as well as orbital distributions, material composition, size, and mass distributions. Dedicated radar and telescope observation data is used to calibrate the model for objects larger than 1 cm in LEO and larger than 10 cm in GEO. For calibrating the small-sized objects, below 1 cm, impact data from returned surfaces are analyzed. Because the >1cm object population is dominated by fragments, the fragmentation event database was updated to include new events, as well as re-evaluate past events. Special attention was drawn to re-evaluating theFengyun-1C anti-satellite test from 2007 and Cosmos-Iridium collision event from 2009 since these events shape the fragment population because of their severity. After 2009, the two largest fragmentations in terms of number of tracked debris are the Briz-M explosion in 2012 and the NOAA-16explosion in 2015. In total, there are 261 confirmed fragmentations in the database up to November 2016.The baseline population for ORDEM 3.1 is based on the U.S. SSN catalog, and observational datasets from radar, in situ, and optical sources provide a foundation from which the model populations are statistically extrapolated to smaller size regions. These regions are not well-covered by the SSN catalog yet may pose the greatest threat to operational spacecraft. The NASA Standard Satellite Breakup Model is used to generate fragments greater than 1mm from collisions and explosions, and these fragment populations are scaled using ground-based radar data. Specific major debris-producing events, including the Fengyun-1C, Iridium 33, and Cosmos2251 debris clouds, and unique populations, such as NaK droplets, were re-examined, modelled, and added to the ORDEM environment separately. Optical measurement data is used to model the GEO population down to 10 cm. The debris environment is propagated using NASA’s LEO-to-GEO Environment Debris model, and future explosions of intact objects and collisions involving objects greater than 10 cm are assessed statistically. The environment from a few millimetres down to 10 𝜇m is modelled using a special degradation model where small particles are generated from intact spacecraft and rocket bodies, then the populations are scaled to fit in situ cratering data from Space Shuttle returned surfaces. Fragments smaller than 10 cm are differentiated based on material density categories, i.e., high-, medium-, and low-density, to better characterize the potential debris risk posed to upper stages and spacecraft. This paper will discuss the MASTER and ORDEM approaches for modelling populations and compare fluxes for specific orbits, including sun-synchronous, ISS-altitude, geosynchronous transfer, and GEO. In the end, a conclusion is drawn towards the importance of having multiple fundamentally different, yet validated, models to estimate the space debris population.

Andre Horstmann↗
NASA NTRS1991

SPECS: Orbital debris removal

The debris problem has reached a stage at which the risk to satellites and spacecraft has become substantial in low Earth orbit (LEO). This research discovered that small particles posed little threat to spacecraft because shielding can effectively prevent these particles from damaging the spacecraft. The research also showed that, even though collision with a large piece of debris could destroy the spacecraft, the large pieces of debris pose little danger because they can be tracked and the spacecraft can be maneuvered away from these pieces. Additionally, there are many current designs to capture and remove large debris particles from the space environment. From this analysis, it was decided to concentrate on the removal of medium-sized orbital debris, that is, those pieces ranging from 1 cm to 50 cm in size. The current design incorporates a transfer vehicle and a netting vehicle to capture the medium-sized debris. The system is based near an operational space station located at 28.5 deg inclination and 400 km altitude. The system uses ground-based tracking to determine the location of a satellite breakup or debris cloud. These data are uploaded to the transfer vehicle, which proceeds to rendezvous with the debris at a lower altitude parking orbit. Next, the netting vehicle is deployed, tracks the targeted debris, and captures it. After expending the available nets, the netting vehicle returns to the transfer vehicle for a new netting module and continues to capture more debris in the target area. Once all the netting modules are expended, the transfer vehicle returns to the space station's orbit where it is resupplied with new netting modules from a space shuttle load. The new modules are launched by the shuttle from the ground and the expended modules are taken back to Earth for removal of the captured debris, refueling, and repacking of the nets. Once the netting modules are refurbished, they are taken back into orbit for reuse. In a typical mission, the system has the ability to capture 50 pieces of orbital debris. One mission will take approximately six months and the system is designed to allow for a 30 deg inclination change on the outgoing and incoming trips of the transfer vehicle.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2006

Debris Flux Comparisons From The Goldstone Radar, Haystack Radar, and Hax Radar Prior, During, and After the Last Solar Maximum

The continual monitoring of low Earth orbit (LEO) debris environment using highly sensitive radars is essential for an accurate characterization of these dynamic populations. Debris populations are continually evolving since there are new debris sources, previously unrecognized debris sources, and debris loss mechanisms that are dependent on the dynamic space environment. Such radar data are used to supplement, update, and validate existing orbital debris models. NASA has been utilizing radar observations of the debris environment for over a decade from three complementary radars: the NASA JPL Goldstone radar, the MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL) Long Range Imaging Radar (known as the Haystack radar), and the MIT/LL Haystack Auxiliary radar (HAX). All of these systems are highly sensitive radars that operate in a fixed staring mode to statistically sample orbital debris in the LEO environment. Each of these radars is ideally suited to measure debris within a specific size region. The Goldstone radar generally observes objects with sizes from 2 mm to 1 cm. The Haystack radar generally measures from 5 mm to several meters. The HAX radar generally measures from 2 cm to several meters. These overlapping size regions allow a continuous measurement of cumulative debris flux versus diameter from 2 mm to several meters for a given altitude window. This is demonstrated for all three radars by comparing the debris flux versus diameter over 200 km altitude windows for 3 nonconsecutive years from 1998 through 2003. These years correspond to periods before, during, and after the peak of the last solar cycle. Comparing the year to year flux from Haystack for each of these altitude regions indicate statistically significant changes in subsets of the debris populations. Potential causes of these changes are discussed. These analysis results include error bars that represent statistical sampling errors, and are detailed in this paper.

Stokely, C. L.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Characterizing the Space Debris Environment with a Variety of SSA Sensors

Damaging space debris spans a wide range of sizes and altitudes. Therefore no single method or sensor can fully characterize the space debris environment. Space debris researchers use a variety of radars and optical telescopes to characterize the space debris environment in terms of number, altitude, and inclination distributions. Some sensors, such as phased array radars, are designed to search a large volume of the sky and can be instrumental in detecting new breakups and cataloging and precise tracking of relatively large debris. For smaller debris sizes more sensitivity is needed which can be provided, in part, by large antenna gains. Larger antenna gains, however, produce smaller fields of view. Statistical measurements of the debris environment with less precise orbital parameters result. At higher altitudes, optical telescopes become the more sensitive instrument and present their own measurement difficulties. Space Situational Awareness, or SSA, is concerned with more than the number and orbits of satellites. SSA also seeks to understand such parameters as the function, shape, and composition of operational satellites. Similarly, debris researchers are seeking to characterize similar parameters for space debris to improve our knowledge of the risks debris poses to operational satellites as well as determine sources of debris for future mitigation. This paper will discuss different sensor and sensor types and the role that each plays in fully characterizing the space debris environment.

Stansbery, Eugene G.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Space Shuttle Systems Engineering Processes for Liftoff Debris Risk Mitigation

This slide presentation reviews the systems engineering process designed to reduce the risk from debris during Space Shuttle Launching. This process begins the day of launch from the tanking to the vehicle tower clearance. Other debris risks (i.e., Ascent, and micrometeoroid orbital debit) are mentioned) but are not the subject of this presentation. The Liftoff debris systems engineering process and an example of how it works are reviewed (i.e.,STS-119 revealed a bolt liberation trend on the Fixed Service Structure (FSS) 275 level elevator room). The process includes preparation of a Certification of Flight Readiness (CoFR) that includes (1) Lift-off debris from previous mission dispositioned, (2) Flight acceptance rationale has been provided for Lift-off debris sources/causes (3) Lift-off debris mission support documentation, processes and tools are in place for the up-coming mission. The process includes a liftoff debris data collection that occurs after each launch. This includes a post launch walkdown, that records each liftoff debris, and the entry of the debris into a database, it also includes a review of the imagery from the launch, and a review of the instrumentation data. There is also a review of the debris transport analysis process, that includes temporal and spatial framework and a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. which incorporates a debris transport analyses (DTA), debris materials and impact tests, and impact analyses.

Mitchell, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2015

Characterization of Debris from the DebriSat Hypervelocity Test

The DebriSat project is an effort by NASA and the DoD to update the standard break-up model for objects in orbit. The DebriSat object, a 56 kg representative LEO satellite, was subjected to a hypervelocity impact in April 2014. For the hypervelocity test, the representative satellite was suspended within a "soft-catch" arena formed by polyurethane foam panels to minimize the interactions between the debris generated from the hypervelocity impact and the metallic walls of the test chamber. After the impact, the foam panels and debris not caught by the panels were collected and shipped to the University of Florida where the project has now advanced to the debris characterization stage. The characterization effort has been divided into debris collection, measurement, and cataloguing. Debris collection and cataloguing involves the retrieval of debris from the foam panels and cataloguing the debris in a database. Debris collection is a three-step process: removal of loose debris fragments from the surface of the foam panels; X-ray imaging to identify/locate debris fragments embedded within the foam panel; extraction of the embedded debris fragments identified during the X-ray imaging process. As debris fragments are collected, they are catalogued into a database specifically designed for this project. Measurement involves determination of size, mass, shape, material, and other physical properties and well as images of the fragment. Cataloguing involves a assigning a unique identifier for each fragment along with the characterization information.

Rivero, M.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Radar Measurements of the LEO Orbital Debris Environment

Access to space and the preservation of the near-Earth space environment is of critical significance. Increased interest in issues surrounding space traffic management and the continued assessment and discussion of orbital debris at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) illustrates the significance of the topic of orbital debris. There are currently over 20,000 tracked objects in the publicly available satellite catalog on Space-Track.org. The catalog is maintained by the US Air Force Space Command using a network of optical and radar ground-based sensors and is believed to be complete for a characteristic size of 10 cm or larger in low Earth orbit (LEO). Based on the work of the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) over approximately the past 40 years it is understood that the small debris population (< 10 cm) increases by orders of magnitude as characteristic size decreases. With population estimates ranging from 500,000 to 1,000,000 small debris objects (> 5 mm) in orbit, it is currently not practical to track and maintain precision orbits on every object. Instead the NASA ODPO uses powerful ground-based radars to sample the low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment and assign approximate orbits to each detection. This poses an interesting signal processing challenge as we are trying to detect the smallest objects possible on the edge of the radar's sensitivity. For approximately the last 30 years, NASA ODPO has partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL) to utilize the Haystack Ultra-wideband Satellite Imaging Radar (HUSIR - formerly the Long-Range Imaging Radar or simply Haystack) and the Haystack Auxiliary (HAX) radar to collect orbital debris radar data. Additionally, the ODPO collaborates with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to use the Goldstone Solar System Radar. The orbital debris detections from these radars serve as inputs for statistical risk models used by the human spaceflight and satellite communities to assess risk to spacecraft posed by orbital debris. In this paper, we will describe the history of orbital debris radar measurements conducted by NASA, provide an overview of current radar measurements techniques and facilities, discuss the signal processing software used for orbital debris measurements and the inference of debris size and orbital parameters from these measurements, and discuss how orbital debris radar measurements are validated for use in models that are used throughout the aerospace industry.

Blackwell, Chris↗
NASA NTRS1994

Conceptual design of an Orbital Debris Defense System

Man made orbital debris has become a serious problem. Currently NORAD tracks over 7000 objects in orbit and less than 10 percent of these are active payloads. Common estimates are that the amount of debris will increase at a rate of 10 percent per year. Impacts of space debris with operational payloads or vehicles is a serious risk to human safety and mission success. For example, the impact of a 0.2 mm diameter paint fleck with the Space Shuttle Challenger window created a 2 mm wide by 0.6 mm deep pit. The cost to replace the window was over $50,000. A conceptual design for a Orbital Debris Defense System (ODDS) is presented which considers a wide range of debris sizes, orbits and velocities. Two vehicles were designed to collect and remove space debris. The first would attach a re-entry package to de-orbit very large debris, e.g. inactive satellites and spent upper stages that tend to break up and form small debris. This vehicle was designed to contain several re-entry packages, and be refueled and resupplied with more re-entry packages as needed. The second vehicle was designed to rendezvous with and capture debris ranging from 10 cm to 2 m. Due to tracking limitations, no technically feasible method for collecting debris below 10 cm in size could be devised; it must be accomplished through international regulations which reduce the accumulation of space debris.

Bedillion, Erik↗
NASA NTRS2002

The New NASA Orbital Debris Engineering Model ORDEM2000

The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office at Johnson Space Center has developed a new computer-based orbital debris engineering model, ORDEM2000, which describes the orbital debris environment in the low Earth orbit region between 200 and 2000 km altitude. The model is appropriate for those engineering solutions requiring knowledge and estimates of the orbital debris environment (debris spatial density, flux, etc.). ORDEM2000 can also be used as a benchmark for ground-based debris measurements and observations. We incorporated a large set of observational data, covering the object size range from 10 mm to 10 m, into the ORDEM2000 debris database, utilizing a maximum likelihood estimator to convert observations into debris population probability distribution functions. These functions then form the basis of debris populations. We developed a finite element model to process the debris populations to form the debris environment. A more capable input and output structure and a user-friendly graphical user interface are also implemented in the model. ORDEM2000 has been subjected to a significant verification and validation effort. This document describes ORDEM2000, which supersedes the previous model, ORDEM96. The availability of new sensor and in situ data, as well as new analytical techniques, has enabled the construction of this new model. Section 1 describes the general requirements and scope of an engineering model. Data analyses and the theoretical formulation of the model are described in Sections 2 and 3. Section 4 describes the verification and validation effort and the sensitivity and uncertainty analyses. Finally, Section 5 describes the graphical user interface, software installation, and test cases for the user.

Liou, Jer-Chyi↗
NASA NTRS2006

Earth Satellite Population Instability: Underscoring the Need for Debris Mitigation

A recent study by NASA indicates that the implementation of international orbital debris mitigation measures alone will not prevent a significant increase in the artificial Earth satellite population, beginning in the second half of this century. Whereas the focus of the aerospace community for the past 25 years has been on the curtailment of the generation of long-lived orbital debris, active remediation of the current orbital debris population should now be reconsidered to help preserve near-Earth space for future generations. In particular, we show in this paper that even if launch operations were to cease today, the population of space debris would continue to grow. Further, proposed remediation techniques do not appear to offer a viable solution. We therefore recommend that, while the aerospace community maintains the current debris-limiting mission regulations and postmission disposal procedures, future emphasis should be placed on finding new remediation technologies for solving this growing problem. Since the launch of Sputnik 1, space activities have created an orbital debris environment that poses increasing impact risks to existing space systems, including human space flight and robotic missions (1, 2). Currently, more than 9,000 Earth orbiting man-made objects (including many breakup fragments), with a combined mass exceeding 5 million kilograms, are tracked by the US Space Surveillance Network and maintained in the US satellite catalog (3-5). Three accidental collisions between cataloged satellites during the period from late 1991 to early 2005 have already been documented (6), although fortunately none resulted in the creation of large, trackable debris clouds. Several studies conducted during 1991-2001 demonstrated, with assumed future launch rates, the unintended growth potential of the Earth satellite population, resulting from random, accidental collisions among resident space objects (7-13). In some low Earth orbit (LEO) altitude regimes where the number density of satellites is above a critical spatial density, the production rate of new satellites (i.e., debris) due to collisions exceeds the loss of objects due to orbital decay. NASA s evolutionary satellite population model LEGEND (LEO-to-GEO Environment Debris model), developed by the Orbital Debris Program Office at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, is a high fidelity three-dimensional physical model that is capable of simulating the historical satellite environment, as well as the evolution of future debris populations (14, 15). The subject study assumed no rocket bodies and spacecraft were launched after December 2004, and no future disposal maneuvers were allowed for existing spacecraft, few of which currently have such a capability. The rate of satellite explosions would naturally decrease to zero within a few decades as the current satellite population ages. The LEGEND future projection adopts a Monte Carlo approach to simulate future on-orbit explosions and collisions. Within a given projection time step, once the explosion probability is estimated for an intact object, a random number is drawn and compared with the probability to determine if an explosion would occur. A similar procedure is applied to collisions for each pair of target and projectile involved within the same time step. Due to the nature of the Monte Carlo process, multiple projection runs must be performed and analyzed before one can draw reliable and meaningful conclusions from the outcome. A total of fifty, 200-year future projection Monte Carlo simulations were executed and evaluated (16).

Liou, Jer-chyi↗
NASA NTRS2009

Orbital Debris Quarterly News, Volume 13, Issue 4

Although NASA has conducted research on orbital debris since the 1960s, the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office is now considered to have been established in October 1979, following the recognition by senior NASA officials of orbital debris as a space environmental issue and the allocation by NASA Headquarters Advanced Programs Office to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) of funds specifically dedicated for orbital debris investigations. In the 30 years since, the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office has pioneered the characterization of the orbital debris environment and its potential effects on current and future space systems, has developed comprehensive orbital debris mitigation measures, and has led efforts by the international aerospace community in addressing the challenges posed by orbital debris. In 1967 the Flight Analysis Branch at the Manned Spacecraft Center (renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in 1973) evaluated the risks of collisions between an Apollo spacecraft and orbital debris. Three years later the same group calculated collision risks for the forthcoming Skylab space station, which was launched in 1973. By 1976, the nucleus of NASA s yet-to-be-formed orbital debris research efforts, including Andrew Potter, Burton Cour-Palais, and Donald Kessler, was found in JSC s Environmental Effects Office, examining the potential threat of orbital debris to large space platforms, in particular the proposed Solar Power Satellites (SPS).

Liou, Jer-Chyi↗
NASA NTRS2011

Space Transportation System Liftoff Debris Mitigation Process Overview

Liftoff debris is a top risk to the Space Shuttle Vehicle. To manage the Liftoff debris risk, the Space Shuttle Program created a team with in the Propulsion Systems Engineering & Integration Office. The Shutt le Liftoff Debris Team harnesses the Systems Engineering process to i dentify, assess, mitigate, and communicate the Liftoff debris risk. T he Liftoff Debris Team leverages off the technical knowledge and expe rtise of engineering groups across multiple NASA centers to integrate total system solutions. These solutions connect the hardware and ana lyses to identify and characterize debris sources and zones contribut ing to the Liftoff debris risk. The solutions incorporate analyses sp anning: the definition and modeling of natural and induced environmen ts; material characterizations; statistical trending analyses, imager y based trajectory analyses; debris transport analyses, and risk asse ssments. The verification and validation of these analyses are bound by conservative assumptions and anchored by testing and flight data. The Liftoff debris risk mitigation is managed through vigilant collab orative work between the Liftoff Debris Team and Launch Pad Operation s personnel and through the management of requirements, interfaces, r isk documentation, configurations, and technical data. Furthermore, o n day of launch, decision analysis is used to apply the wealth of ana lyses to case specific identified risks. This presentation describes how the Liftoff Debris Team applies Systems Engineering in their proce sses to mitigate risk and improve the safety of the Space Shuttle Veh icle.

Mitchell, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2011

Zodiac II: Debris Disk Science from a Balloon

Zodiac II is a proposed balloon-borne science investigation of debris disks around nearby stars. Debris disks are analogs of the Asteroid Belt (mainly rocky) and Kuiper Belt (mainly icy) in our Solar System. Zodiac II will measure the size, shape, brightness, and color of a statistically significant sample of disks. These measurements will enable us to probe these fundamental questions: what do debris disks tell us about the evolution of planetary systems; how are debris disks produced; how are debris disks shaped by planets; what materials are debris disks made of; how much dust do debris disks make sa they grind down; and how long do debris disks live? In addition, Zodiac II will observe hot, young exoplanets as targets of opportunity. The Zodiac II instrument is a 1.1-m diameter SiC telescope and an imaging coronagraph on a gondola carried by a stratospheric balloon. Its data product is a set of images of each targeted debris disk in four broad visible wavelength bands. Zodiac II will address its science questions by taking high-resolution, multi-wavelength images of the debris disks around tens of nearby stars. Mid-latitude flights are considered: overnight test flights within the United States followed by half-global flights in the Southern Hemisphere. These longer flights are required to fully explore the set of known debris disks accessible only to Zodiac II. On these targets, it will be 100 times more sensitive than the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS); no existing telescope can match the Zodiac II contrast and resolution performance. A second objective of Zodiac II is to use the near-space environment to raise the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of SiC mirrors, internal coronagraphs, deformable mirrors, and wavefront sensing and control, all potentially needed for a future space-based telescope for high-contrast exoplanet imaging.

Bryden, Geoffrey↗
NASA NTRS2011

Zodiac II: Debris Disk Science from a Balloon

Zodiac II is a proposed balloon-borne science investigation of debris disks around nearby stars. Debris disks are analogs of the Asteroid Belt (mainly rocky) and Kuiper Belt (mainly icy) in our Solar System. Zodiac II will measure the size, shape, brightness, and color of a statistically significant sample of disks. These measurements will enable us to probe these fundamental questions: what do debris disks tell us about the evolution of planetary systems; how are debris disks produced; how are debris disks shaped by planets; what materials are debris disks made of; how much dust do debris disks make as they grind down; and how long do debris disks live? In addition, Zodiac II will observe hot, young exoplanets as targets of opportunity. The Zodiac II instrument is a 1.1-m diameter SiC (Silicone carbide) telescope and an imaging coronagraph on a gondola carried by a stratospheric balloon. Its data product is a set of images of each targeted debris disk in four broad visible-wavelength bands. Zodiac II will address its science questions by taking high-resolution, multi-wavelength images of the debris disks around tens of nearby stars. Mid-latitude flights are considered: overnight test flights in the US followed by half-global flights in the Southern Hemisphere. These longer flights are required to fully explore the set of known debris disks accessible only to Zodiac II. On these targets, it will be 100 times more sensitive than the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (HST/ACS); no existing telescope can match the Zodiac II contrast and resolution performance. A second objective of Zodiac II is to use the near-space environment to raise the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of SiC mirrors, internal coronagraphs, deformable mirrors, and wavefront sensing and control, all potentially needed for a future space-based telescope for high-contrast exoplanet imaging.

suborbital↗
NASA NTRS2017

Ground-Based Observing Campaign of Briz-M Debris

In 2015, NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) completed the installation of the Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) on Ascension Island. MCAT is a 1.3m optical telescope designed with a fast tracking capability for observing orbital debris at all orbital regimes (Low-Erath orbits to Geosyncronous (GEO) orbits) from a low latitude site. This new asset is dedicated year-round for debris observations, and its location fills a geographical gap in the Ground-based Electro Optical Space Surveillance (GEODSS) network. A commercial off the shelf (COTS) research grade 0.4m telescope (named the Benbrook telescope) will also be installed on Ascension at the end of 2016. This smaller version is controlled by the same master software, designed by Euclid Research, and can be tasked to work independently or in concert with MCAT. Like MCAT, it has a the same suite of filters, a similar field of view, and a fast-tracking Astelco mount, and is also capable of tracking debris at all orbital regimes. These assets are well suited for targeted campagins or surveys of debris. Since 2013, NASA's ODPO has also had extensive access to the 3.8m infrared UKIRT telescope, located on Mauna Kea. At nearly 14,000-ft, this site affords excellent conditions for collecting both photometery and spectroscopy at near-IR (0.9 - 2.5 micrometers SWIR) and thermal-IR (8 - 25 micrometers; LWIR) regimes, ideal for investigating material properties as well as thermal characteristics and sizes of debris. For the purposes of understanding orbital debris, taking data in both survey mode as well as targeting individual objects for more in-depth characterizations are desired. With the recent break-ups of Briz-M rocket bodies, we have collected a suite of data in the optical, near-infrared, and mid-infrared of in-tact objects as well as those classified as debris. A break-up at GEO of a Briz-M rocket occurred in January, 2016, well timed for the first remote observing survey-campaign with MCAT. Access to the 3.8m UKIRT telescope has also allowed for investigating this break-up in the near-infrared at wavelengths where debris is often much more reflective, allowing for the potential detection of a smaller population of these debris. In addition, a suite of near-IR reflectance spectroscopy (0.8-2.5 micrometers) and thermal-IR (8-15 micrometers) of individual in-tact and debris Briz-M objects has been collected. Analysis of the survey data will be discussed.

Lederer, S. M.↗
NASA NTRS2017

An Overview of the Orbital Debris and Meteoroid Environments, Their Effects on Spacecraft, and What Can We Do About It?

Because of the high speeds needed for orbital space flight, hypervelocity impacts with objects in space are a constant risk to spacecraft. This includes natural debris - meteoroids - and the debris remnants of our own activities in space. A number of space surveillance assets are used to measure and track spacecraft, used upper stages, and breakup debris. However, much of the debris and meteoroids encountered by spacecraft in Earth orbit is not easily measured or tracked. For every man-made object that we can track, there are hundreds of small debris that are too small to be tracked but still large enough to damage spacecraft. In addition, even if we knew today's environment with perfect knowledge, the debris environment is dynamic and would change tomorrow. This means that much of the risk from both meteoroids and anthropogenic debris is statistical in nature. NASA uses and maintains a number of instruments to statistically monitor the meteoroid and orbital debris environments, and uses this information to compute statistical models for use by spacecraft designers and operators. Because orbital debris is a result of human activities, NASA has led the US government in formulating national and international strategies that space users can employ to limit the growth of debris in the future. This talk will summarize the history and current state of meteoroid and space debris measurements and modeling, how the environment influences spacecraft design and operations, how we are designing the experiments of tomorrow to improve our knowledge, and how we are working internationally to preserve the space environment for the future.

Matney, Mark↗