Performance of Different Metal-Foam Stuffed Whipple Shield against Hypervelocity Impact of Space Debris

2011 ◽  
Vol 488-489 ◽  
pp. 122-125
Author(s):  
Bin Jia ◽  
Feng Li ◽  
Hai Peng Gong ◽  
Bao Jun Pang
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Metal Foam ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Hypervelocity Impact ◽  
Metallic Foams ◽  
Base Materials ◽  
Al 7075 ◽  
Radial Dispersion ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Whipple Shield

Hypervelocity impacts on spacecraft in low earth orbit by meteoroids and space debris poses a threat to space missions, and the use of a shield can significantly decrease the probability of a catastrophic failure. Tests have identified that metallic foams have a good shielding performance against hypervelocity impact by micro-meteoroids and orbital debris. A metal-foam stuffed Whipple shield was presented under the concept of light-weight shield structure. A meso-structure model of geometry for metallic foams was set up simulating their manufacturing process and validated by comparison with experimental results using own SPH code. Three base materials of foam, including Al 7075-T651, Ti and Al ZL102, were researched for their performances as stuff of shield by means of numerical simulation. The results indicated that different base materials show the best shield performance at different impact speeds with other conditions the same. The foam of Al ZL102 stuffed can cause the strongest radial dispersion of the secondary debris cloud and is more likely to provide the best shield performance, which is proved at the higher part of the speed range investigated.

Experimental Investigation and Numerical Simulation of Porous Volcano Rock Hypervelocity Impact on Whipple Shield of Spacecrafts

2010 ◽  
Vol 452-453 ◽  
pp. 385-388
Author(s):  
Bin Jia ◽  
Gao Jian Liao ◽  
Hai Peng Gong ◽  
Bao Jun Pang
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
Geometrical Model ◽  
Hypervelocity Impact ◽  
Rear Wall ◽  
Projectile Impact ◽  
Gas Gun ◽  
Significant Damage ◽  
Speed Range ◽  
Whipple Shield

All spacecrafts in earth orbit are subject to hypervelocity impact by micro-meteoroids and space debris, which can in turn lead to significant damage and catastrophic failure of spacecraft. Porous volcano rock was adopted as one of micro-meteoroid material due to their similar physical and geometric features. Two-stage light gas gun experiments were carried out for a 6mm diameter volcano rock projectile impact on an Al-Whipple shield within the speed range from 1 km/s to 3 km/s. An ANSYS/LS-DYNA software was employed and justified by experimental results, in which a porous geometrical model was established for volcano rock projectile. The higher speed range was extended from 3 km/s to 10 km/s by numerical simulation. The results of experiments and numerical simulation indicated that major damage on rear wall of the Whipple shield impacted by volcano rock projectile is caused by the fragments of bumper of the shield, which is different from that of aluminum projectile. And 5.5km/s is the critical speed of a 6mm diameter volcano rock projectile impact on the Whipple shield investigated.

Investigation on Sustained Discharge of Satellite’s Power Harness Due to Plasma from Space Debris Impact

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuki Mando ◽  
Koji Tanaka ◽  
Takayuki Hirai ◽  
Shirou Kawakita ◽  
Masumi Higashide ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Internal Resistance ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Hypervelocity Impact ◽  
Space Environment ◽  
Earth Orbit ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Solar Arrays ◽  
Sustained Discharge ◽  
Circuit Configuration

Abstract Space debris travels at a velocity of 7-8 km/s in low Earth orbit (LEO) and at 3 km/s in geostationary Earth orbit (GEO). An impact between space debris and spacecraft will result in tremendous damage. In particular, particles less than 1mm in diameter pose a risk of causing permanent sustained discharge (PSD). PSD may affect a satellite’s power system. The effect on solar arrays has been well-studied given their large area, but the effect on the bundle of a satellite’s wire harness (called the power harness) has yet to be clarified, even though the power harness is usually exposed to the space environment without protection. We conducted hypervelocity impact experiments using a two-stage light gas gun, and investigated the risk resulting in PSD from hypervelocity impacts of particles less than 1mm in size. In addition, we compared two kinds of circuit configurations: a more realistic circuit configuration with internal resistance and a circuit configuration without it, so as to investigate whether internal resistance affects the occurrence of PSD. Stainless steel and aluminum oxide projectiles measuring from 0.3 to 1 mm in diameter were gun-accelerated up to 7.16 km/s. Targets entailed a three-layered power harness under a simulated power condition of typical satellites operating in LEO or GEO. As a result, 11 of 28 shots resulted in PSD. With the more realistic circuit configuration we could not confirm any results regarding PSD. We thus found that PSD is less likely to occur in a more realistic circuit configuration.

scholarly journals The Ad Hoc Back-End of the BIRALET Radar to Measure Slant-Range and Doppler Shift of Resident Space Objects

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 577
Author(s):  
Luca Schirru ◽  
Tonino Pisanu ◽  
Angelo Podda
Keyword(s):  
Doppler Shift ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Slant Range ◽  
Radar Systems ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Space Objects ◽  
Resident Space Objects ◽  
Potential Issue

Space debris is a term for all human-made objects orbiting the Earth or reentering the atmosphere. The population of space debris is continuously growing and it represents a potential issue for active satellites and spacecraft. New collisions and fragmentation could exponentially increase the amount of debris and so the level of risk represented by these objects. The principal technique used for the debris monitoring, in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) between 200 km and 2000 km of altitude, is based on radar systems. The BIRALET system represents one of the main Italian radars involved in resident space objects observations. It is a bi-static radar, which operates in the P-band at 410–415 MHz, that uses the Sardinia Radio Telescope as receiver. In this paper, a detailed description of the new ad hoc back-end developed for the BIRALET radar, with the aim to perform slant-range and Doppler shift measurements, is presented. The new system was successfully tested in several validation measurement campaigns, the results of which are reported and discussed.

Electromagnetic-launch-based method for cost-efficient space debris removal

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-106
Author(s):  
Chongyuan Hou ◽  
Yuan Yang ◽  
Yikang Yang ◽  
Kaizhong Yang ◽  
Xiao Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Orbit Space ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Research Progress ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Electromagnetic Launch ◽  
Debris Removal ◽  
Significant Research ◽  
Electromagnetic Launcher ◽  
Cost Efficient

AbstractThe increase in space debris orbiting Earth is a critical problem for future space missions. Space debris removal has thus become an area of interest, and significant research progress is being made in this field. However, the exorbitant cost of space debris removal missions is a major concern for commercial space companies. We therefore propose the debris removal using electromagnetic launcher (DREL) system, a ground-based electromagnetic launch system (railgun), for space debris removal missions. The DREL system has three components: a ground-based electromagnetic launcher (GEML), suborbital vehicle (SOV), and mass of micrometer-scale dust (MSD) particles. The average cost of removing a piece of low-earth orbit space debris using DREL was found to be approximately USD 160,000. The DREL method is thus shown to be economical; the total cost to remove more than 2,000 pieces of debris in a cluster was only approximately USD 400 million, compared to the millions of dollars required to remove just one or two pieces of debris using a conventional space debris removal mission. By using DREL, the cost of entering space is negligible, thereby enabling countries to remove their space debris in an affordable manner.

Could future COP talks help to de-junk near-earth space?

Soundings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 78 (78) ◽  
pp. 81-85
Author(s):  
Susmita Mohanty
Keyword(s):  
Space Debris ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Earth Space ◽  
Near Earth Space ◽  
Earth Environment ◽  
Outer Space Treaty ◽  
Earth Observation Data ◽  
Earth’S Climate

Space debris has reached alarming proportions and is growing at a frightening pace, because of the expanding number of satellites circulating in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), designed to increase global Internet coverage and provide earth observation data. LEO satellites are now being launched in mega-constellations, including by Elon Musk's company SpaceX. It is time to completely overhaul the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which was not designed to deal with current problems. The COP forum should therefore include the near-earth environment within its concept of the earth's climate, enabling the UN to acknowledge, as a collective, the growing menace of human-made debris in near-earth space, and, in partnership with the UN-Outer Space Affairs Office (UN-OOSA), call for a new declaration on LEO.

Joining Strategies for Open Porous Metallic Foams on Iron and Nickel Base Materials

2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 670-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Longerich ◽  
D. Piontek ◽  
P. Ohse ◽  
A. Harms ◽  
U. Dilthey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Metallic Foams ◽  
Base Materials ◽  
Nickel Base

scholarly journals Dynamic Modelling Transformations for the Low Earth Orbit Satellite Particulate Environment

1991 ◽  
Vol 126 ◽  
pp. 37-40
Author(s):  
J.A.M. McDonnell ◽  
K. Sullivan ◽  
S.F. Green ◽  
T.J. Stevenson ◽  
D.H. Niblett
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Model ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
Residue Analysis ◽  
Dynamic Modelling ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Earth Orbit ◽  
Natural Orbital ◽  
Low Earth Orbit Satellite ◽  
Chemical Residue ◽  
Particle Velocities

AbstractA simple dynamic model to investigate the relative fluxes and particle velocities on a spacecraft’s different faces is presented. The results for LDEF are consistent with a predominantly interplanetary origin for the larger particulates, but a sizable population of orbital particles with sizes capable of penetrating foils of thickness <30μm. Data from experiments over the last 30 years do not show the rise in flux expected if these were space debris. The possibility of a population of natural orbital particulates awaits confirmation from chemical residue analysis.

scholarly journals Multifunctional load-bearing aerostructures with integrated space debris protection

2019 ◽  
Vol 304 ◽  
pp. 07003
Author(s):  
Martin Schubert ◽  
Anthanasios Dafnis
Keyword(s):  
Composite Structures ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
Sandwich Panels ◽  
Thermal Control ◽  
Hypervelocity Impact ◽  
Radiation Shielding ◽  
Impact Testing ◽  
Load Bearing ◽  
Protection Capability

In the project multiSat multifunctional composite structures for satellite application have been developed. Functions such as protection against space debris, radiation shielding and passive thermal control have been integrated into the load-bearing composite spacecraft structure by use of suitable materials and components. Sandwich panels have been studied as representative structural parts of a conventional satellite structure. Measures for increased space debris protection include the substitution of the conventional honeycomb core by 3D-printed aluminum cellular structures and the reinforcement of the sandwich panel by integration of high performance fabrics which effectively break up and catch impacting debris particles. This paper describes the development and design of multifunctional sandwich concepts with increased impact protection capability and presents the experimental results of hypervelocity impact testing with different types of CFRP sandwich panels.

scholarly journals Lisk-Broom: A laser concept for clearing space debris

1995 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Phipps
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Physics ◽  
Atmospheric Turbulence ◽  
Space Debris ◽  
Laser System ◽  
Average Power ◽  
Low Earth Orbit ◽  
Earth Orbit ◽  
Interaction Theory ◽  
Space Propulsion ◽  
Laser Impulse

So-called “space junk” forced a change of plan for a recent Shuttle mission. However, ground-based lasers with atmospheric-turbulence-compensating beam directors represent a singularly effective method of de-orbiting space junk, because they use cheap Earth-based power, and because they lend themselves to rapid retargeting. Plasma physics and lasertarget interaction theory dictate the laser parameters for a particular mission. We will discuss a practical laser system and beam director with 20-kW average power at 0.5-µm wavelength that is capable of clearing most low-Earth-orbit objects with mass less than 100 kg in about 4 years. This is a special application of the Laser Impulse Space Propulsion (LISP) concept, by which objects are propelled in space by the ablation jet produced on their surface by a remote laser.

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