Orbital debris tracked by the US Space Command is mostly in near circular orbit around the Earth. If small debris were in the same types of orbits, there would be very few orbital debris impacts on the Long Duration Exposure Facility's (LDEF's) trailing surfaces. However, at least 15 percent of the impacts found on the trailing A03 gold surface was found to be orbital debris impacts. This measurement suggests that the orbital distribution of small debris is not the same as that of larger debris. Although this is not a total surprise, since modelling of satellite breakups has predicted different distributions, it does raise questions as to what types of orbits could be responsible for these impacts. A model was developed to explain these LDEF results. The model calculates the expected debris impact crater distribution around LDEF, as a function of debris orbital parameters. The results show that only low inclination and highly elliptical orbits could be responsible for these impacts. The most common object left in this type of orbit is an orbital transfer stage, used by the US and ESA to place objects into geosynchronous orbit, and inclinations near 28 and 7 degrees for the US and ESA, respectively. Even large fragments from satellites, which break up in these types of orbits, are difficult to observe from the ground; consequently, little is known about the number and characteristics of breakups in these orbits. The LDEF data suggest that these objects are breaking up. The LDEF data also suggest that the ratio of the contribution of small debris from this type of orbit to the contribution from circular orbits is about an order of magnitude larger than the same ratio for debris tracked by the US Space Command.


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    Title :

    Origin of orbital debris impacts on Long Duration Exposure Facility's (LDEF) trailing surfaces


    Contributors:


    Publication date :

    1992-06-01


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English


    Keywords :