Abstract This paper examines the evolution of the debris cloud resulting from the Landsat 3 rocket body explosion that occurred in January 1981. The right ascension and argument of perigees distribute themselves as orbital mechanics predicts. Drag is shown to be the major contributor to the long term evolution of the cloud. The rate of decay for a debris piece is shown to be related to its initial period after the fragmentation. This requires that the change of velocity imparted to a debris piece is related to its ballistic coefficient. A long term change in inclination for the Landsat 3 rocket body debris cloud is discovered. The cause of this inclination change is most likely a geopotential source, resulting in the moving of the debris into relatively unpopulated inclinations.
Evolution of an on-orbit debris cloud
Advances in Space Research ; 6 , 7 ; 99-108
1987-01-01
10 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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