Location
Howard Johnson Plaza-Hotel, Atlantis/ Discovery Rooms
Start Date
26-4-1995 2:00 PM
End Date
26-4-1995 5:00 PM
Description
The potential for collisions with natural particles (meteoroids) at relative velocities up to 72 km/sec (155,000 mph) has historically been a design consideration for spacecraft. The deposition of man-made particles, referred to as orbital debris, into orbit around the Earth presented an even more severe hypervelocity impact problem for spacecraft designers. This paper examines the threat to the International Space Station Alpha (ISSA) imposed by the meteoroid/orbital debris (M/OD) environment and the risk management approaches implemented to mitigate the threat.
The ISSA program has established a balanced strategy for managing the risks associated with the M/OD threat based on the following three principles: 1) maximize design protection by implementing state-of-the-art shielding, 2) track and avoid the larger objects, and 3) minimize residual risk by implementing risk control and abatement features and procedures.
Even though NASA is using effective hardware and operational risk mitigation approaches, there remains a residual risk of a penetrating impact. Due to weight, volume, and funding constraints, a gap exists between the passive protection (shielding) capability and active protection (collision avoidance) lower particle size tracking limits. Fortunately, the estimated number of impacts per year decreases exponentially as the size of the particle increases. With the implemented design and planned operational measures, the resulting residual risk of an impact that could potentially cause severe damage to the station is extremely small. Options are continually being assessed and implemented to reduce the residual risk and increase reliability. Control of the debris threat is being pursued by NASA through international treaties and agreements among all space-faring nations. These agreements refer to guidelines for the design, development and operation of satellites with the intent to reduce the evolving orbital debris environment.
Paper Session II-A - Meteoroid and Orbital Debris Protection for the International Space Station Alpha
Howard Johnson Plaza-Hotel, Atlantis/ Discovery Rooms
The potential for collisions with natural particles (meteoroids) at relative velocities up to 72 km/sec (155,000 mph) has historically been a design consideration for spacecraft. The deposition of man-made particles, referred to as orbital debris, into orbit around the Earth presented an even more severe hypervelocity impact problem for spacecraft designers. This paper examines the threat to the International Space Station Alpha (ISSA) imposed by the meteoroid/orbital debris (M/OD) environment and the risk management approaches implemented to mitigate the threat.
The ISSA program has established a balanced strategy for managing the risks associated with the M/OD threat based on the following three principles: 1) maximize design protection by implementing state-of-the-art shielding, 2) track and avoid the larger objects, and 3) minimize residual risk by implementing risk control and abatement features and procedures.
Even though NASA is using effective hardware and operational risk mitigation approaches, there remains a residual risk of a penetrating impact. Due to weight, volume, and funding constraints, a gap exists between the passive protection (shielding) capability and active protection (collision avoidance) lower particle size tracking limits. Fortunately, the estimated number of impacts per year decreases exponentially as the size of the particle increases. With the implemented design and planned operational measures, the resulting residual risk of an impact that could potentially cause severe damage to the station is extremely small. Options are continually being assessed and implemented to reduce the residual risk and increase reliability. Control of the debris threat is being pursued by NASA through international treaties and agreements among all space-faring nations. These agreements refer to guidelines for the design, development and operation of satellites with the intent to reduce the evolving orbital debris environment.
Comments
The Evolution of ISSA
Session Chairman: William Bates, Chief of Staff for Space Station Program Office, NASA, Johnson Space Center
Session Organizer: Terri Cardone