Stansbery, Eugene

NASA Technical Reports Server

National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA Measurement 
Summary
WG1
33rd IADC Meeting
Gene Stansbery
Orbital Debris Program Office
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20150003037 2019-08-31T13:40:38+00:00Z
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2
Major Initiatives
• Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT)
• Debris Resistive Acoustic Grid Orbital NASA-
Navy Sensor (DRAGONS) on ISS
• DebriSat
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3 Orbital Debris Program Office
Meter-Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT)
• NASA is currently working 
with the Air Force and AFRL 
to deploy a new 1.3-m 
telescope on Ascension 
Island.
• The low latitude of the site 
will permit observations of 
low inclination debris at all 
altitudes.
– Debris as small as 10 cm in 
GEO should be detectable.
• The telescope will ultimately 
operate autonomously.
• Operations will start in 2015.
The MCAT telescope and 
mount will be non-traditional.
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4
Meter-Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT)
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Debris Resistive Acoustic Grid Orbital Navy-
NASA Sensor (DRAGONS)
• Purpose is to provide data on debris smaller than 1 mm
• DRAGONS combines dual-layer thin films and an acoustic sensor system 
with the resistive grid sensor system to create a COTS-based instrument 
that provides excellent semi-real-time impact detection and recording 
capability
– Impact data includes: Impact time, impact flux, particle size, impact speed, impact 
direction, and impact energy
July 2013 Orbital Debris Program Office5
Acoustic Sensors
Impact time & location
Dual-layer Films
Time of flight
Resistive Grids
Damage/Size
Incoming MMOD
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DRAGONS
• Two potential flight opportunities
– ISS Technology Demonstration Office
– DoD Space Test Program – higher altitude
July 2013 Orbital Debris Program Office6
Columbus Module, External 
Payload Facility SOX
DRAGONS Prototype
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DebriSat 
• NASA Standard Breakup Model
– Based on ground based hypervelocity impact tests and on-orbit fragmentations, 
explosion and collision
– Ground based tests were on performed on 1960’s Transit satellite and simulated 
spacecraft & rocket bodies
• No multilayer insulation (MLI) or solar panels
– Iridium/Cosmos collision in 2009 showed differences between “new” and “old” 
construction 
• DebriSat
– Design and fabricate a 60-cm/50-kg class satellite, including MLI and solar panels, to be 
representative of modern payloads in LEO
– Carry out a hypervelocity impact test with sufficient kinetic energy to completely breakup 
DebriSat
July 2013 Orbital Debris Program Office7
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DebriSat 
July 2013 Orbital Debris Program Office8
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DebriSat 
July 2013 Orbital Debris Program Office9
• DebriSat shot was successfully conducted on April 15th at Arnold 
Engineering Development Center (AEDC)
– Projectile impacted DebriSat at 6.8 km/sec and completed fragmented the target
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DebriSat Test Shot 
July 2013 Orbital Debris Program Office10
• To further increase the benefits of the project, Aerospace built a target 
resembling a launch vehicle upper stage (“DebrisLV”) for the pre-test shot
– DebrisLV: 17.1 kg, body dimensions ~ 88 cm (length) × 35 cm (diameter)
– Pre-test shot was successfully conducted on April 1st
– Projectile impacted DebrisLV at 6.9 km/sec and completed fragmented DebrisLV
Delta-II Ti roll 
control thruster 
assembly
Al alloy tank 
(xenon 15 psia) 
and Al alloy skin
Al alloy strap-on 
tanks (one on 
each side)
Stainless steel 
fuel lines
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DebriSat Test Shot 
July 2013 Orbital Debris Program Office11
• AEDC always conducts a test shot prior to the main event
– Opportunity to test emulated upper stage
598 g projectile @ 6.9 km/sec
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12
On-Going Measurements
• Radar
– HUSIR/HAX
– Goldstone
• UK InfraRed Telescope (UKIRT)
• Michigan Orbital DEbris Survey Telescope 
(MODEST)
• Magellan/Blanco/Bi-static
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On-Going Radar Measurements
• Haystack Ultrawideband Satellite Imaging Radar 
(HUSIR) – X band
– Was down for several years for upgrade and bearing 
issues.
– Resumed limited operations in Jan. 2014
– 336 hours collected in FY 2014
– Expect ~600 hrs in FY 2015
• HAX
– 645 Hours collected since last IADC
• Goldstone 
– 87 hours collected since last IADC
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14
On-Going Optical Measurements
• MODEST (0.6 m)
– 1 week of survey observations late June 2014
• Magellan (6.5 m)
– 2 nights May 27 and May 28 direct imaging for faint 
GEO object survey.  0.5 deg field of view.  Both 
nights clear.
• Blanco (4.0 m)
– 1 night June 24 with Dark Energy Camera (2 deg
diameter field of view) for faint GEO object survey.  
• MODEST/Blanco/SST/USNO Multi-Static
– Coordinated survey observations with 3.5-m Space 
Surveillance Telescope (New Mexico, USA), 1.3-m 
telescope at USNO Flagstaff (Arizona, USA), and 
0.6-m MODEST (Chile).  Clear all sites.
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On-Going IR Measurements
• United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope (UKIRT)
– 3.8 m telescope
– Mauna Kea, Hawaii (4200 m elevation)
– Significant time dedicated to NASA Orbital Debris             
Observation
• WFCAM (Wide Field CAMera) JHK 
– 25 nights of data – April, May, June, 2014
– 16 objects observed
• WFCAM ZYJHK
– 26 Nights – Oct, Nov, Dec 2014
– 24 objects observed
• UIST (UKIRT Imaging Spectrometer) 1-2.5um spectra
– 6 nights of data – Aug, Sept 2014
– 10 objects observed


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