27 research outputs found
Orbital Debris Quarterly News
Get PDFThe Indian spacecraft Microsat-R (International Designator 2019-006A, U.S. Strategic Command [USSTRATCOM] Space Surveillance Network [SSN] catalog number 43947), launched on 24 January 2019, was intentionally destroyed in a test of a ground-based, direct-ascent Anti-Satellite (ASAT) weapon system at 0640 GMT on 27 March 2019. At the time of breakup the 740 kg spacecraft was in an approximately 294 x 265 km altitude, 96.63 orbit. A total of 101 debris have entered the public satellite catalog (through object 2019-006DF), of which 49 fragments remain on-orbit as of 15 July 2019. However, over 400 fragments were initially tracked by SSN sensors and cataloging is complicated by the low altitude of the event and the concomitant rapid orbital decay. A Gabbard plot of this debris cloud is presented in the figure on page 2. A Centaur V Single-Engine Centaur (SEC) rocket variant (International Designator 2018-079B, SSN number 43652) fragmented in early April 2019. At the time of the event the stage was in an approximately 35,092 x 8526 km altitude, 12.2 orbit. This Centaur V upper stage is associated with the launch of the USA 288, or Advanced Extremely High Frequency 4 (AEHF 4), spacecraft from the (U.S.) Air Force Eastern Test Range on 17 October 2018. The cause of the event is unknown. No debris have entered the catalog at this time, but the ODQN will provide updates should they become publicly available
Coring the Wide-Field Planetary Camera 2 Radiator for Impactor Trace Residue Assessment
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Orbital debris environment for spacecraft designed to operate in low Earth orbit
Get PDFThe orbital debris environment model is intended to be used by the spacecraft community for the design and operation of spacecraft in low Earth orbit. This environment, when combined with material-dependent impact tests and spacecraft failure analysis, is intended to be used to evaluate spacecraft vulnerability, reliability, and shielding requirements. The environment represents a compromise between existing data to measure the environment, modeling of this data to predict the future environment, the uncertainty in both measurements and modeling, and the need to describe the environment so that various options concerning spacecraft design and operations can be easily evaluated
Recent Results from the Goldstone Orbital Debris Radar: 2016-2017
Get PDFSince 1993, the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office has used the Goldstone Orbital Debris Radar (Goldstone) to sample statistically the orbital debris environment. Due to the sensitivity of this radar, which can detect an approximately 3 mm-diameter conducting sphere at 1,000 km, it has filled an important role in the characterization of the sub-centimeter-sized orbital debris population. Through the years, the capabilities of this system have increased recent updates include increased receiver bandwidth and a change in the bi-static observation geometry both of which enhance the radars ability to estimate orbital parameters. In 2016, dual polarization capability was added, making this the first year where both right- and left-hand circularly polarized information was available from this sensor. This additional polarization information may enable better characterization of sub-centimeter-sized particles in low Earth orbit, particularly since the receiver triggers on reflected energy from both left- and right-handed circular polarizations independently. In this paper, we present measurements and results derived from data taken during the calendar years (CY) 2016-2017 by Goldstone and compare this dataset to measurements taken by the Haystack Ultra-wideband Satellite Imaging Radar (HUSIR) during a similar timeframe
The NaK Population: A 2019 Status
Get PDFThe statistical debris measurement campaigns conducted by the Haystack Ultrawideband Satellite Imaging Radar (HUSIR) on behalf of the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office are used to characterize the long-term behavior of the small, low Earth orbit (LEO) orbital debris environment. A long-recognized, unique component of the LEO environment is composed of small Sodium-Potassium (NaK) eutectic nuclear reactor coolant droplets associated with the Soviet Radar Ocean Reconnaissance Satellite (RORSAT) program. Beginning with the flight of Cosmos 1176, RORSAT vehicles would nominally separate their reactor core at end of mission, thereby venting the NaK coolant and producing the NaK droplet population. In this paper, we describe the methodology by which NaK are segregated from the statistically sampled general debris population and their sizes inferred; the current NaK environment; how it has changed over time; and a potential new source of NaK: RORSAT vehicles that did not separate their reactor core by either design or apparent malfunction
