Sentences with phrase «orbital debris»
"Orbital debris" refers to the man-made objects that are left in space, such as defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, and fragments from various space activities. These objects can pose a threat to operational satellites and other spacecraft, as they move at high speeds and can potentially collide with them, causing damage or destruction. Full definition
How that awareness might progress to remedial action — the removal of orbital debris — remains unclear, though.
scientificamerican.com
The high - velocity impact of a piece of dust or orbital debris generates plasma and an associated Radio Frequency emission.
As a result, many of these systems become orbital debris shortly after they are launched, he says.
One objection that did carry water, however, was the request for an extensive orbital debris mitigation plan.
The Southampton team's new analyses, he says, «demonstrate for the first time that space climate change has significant consequences for orbital debris proliferation and for debris mitigation strategies.»
When it came time to pick the chair of the panel, the choice was obvious: Don Kessler, a 71 - year - old retired NASA scientist who has been warning the world about orbital debris for more than 30 years.
This orbit is very stable, letting the spacecraft remain relatively unaffected by orbital debris and space radiation, as well as allowing for easy communications with mission team members on the ground during the close passes to Earth.
A multibillion - dollar radar system should vastly increase the amount of orbital debris under surveillance, but actually removing any debris will be a monumental challenge
If we don't deal with orbital debris, Earth will one day have rings of refuse — and we'll be cut off from space
There are more than 21,000 pieces of orbital debris larger than 3.9 inches (10 centimeters) in Earth's orbit.
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, are working on adhesive gripping tools that could grapple objects such as orbital debris or defunct satellites that would otherwise be hard to handle.
Besides grappling orbital debris, the grippers could help inspect spacecraft or assist small satellites in docking to the International Space Station.
«If a spacecraft is lost due to being hit by debris, the odds are the satellite will be hit by something the trackers can't see,» said Nicholas Johnson, NASA chief scientist (retired) for orbital debris at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The leading theory for Charon's formation is that it formed similar to the way that the Earth and Moon have formed: from the accumulated orbital debris that surrounded Pluto after a giant impactor hit the latter during the early history of the Solar System.
NASA is investing in technology concepts that include meteoroid impact detection, space telescope swarms and small orbital debris mapping technologies that may one day be used for future space exploration missions.
On March 6, 2008, the Cassini mission reported evidence of orbital debris around Saturn's second largest moon Rhea (which is around 950 miles or 1,530 kilometer wide).
According to Space Daily, «With GOLD there is a negligible increase in the chance of creating new dangerous orbital debris and once the object is removed from orbit, that particular threat is gone forever.»
Donald Kessler is leading a new study considering what to do about orbital debris, a problem he saw developing decades ago.
However, the deployment was unsuccessful,» says Nicholas Johnson at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, NASA «s chief scientist for orbital debris.
On April 2, for the fifth time in less than three years, the International Space Station fired its engines to dodge a piece of orbital debris that appeared on a collision path.
Especially important is the presence of the gas giant: Leading theories hold that Jupiter and Saturn were key to shaping the architecture of our solar system, migrating close to the sun and sweeping out orbital debris that might have otherwise destroyed any chance of life on the inner planets.
Using a net is just one of the many proposed solutions to the orbital debris problem (see main story).
The next step in the work is to use the simulation to quantify the radiation generated so they can assess the threat to satellites, and devise ways to protect satellites and spacecraft from meteoroids and orbital debris.
Independent tests undertaken in late February by two US aerospace firms — Lockheed Martin and Raytheon — showed that a new ground - based radar technology can detect those small bits of orbital debris.
Those looking for posts / pages on specific topics, please look in the margin at left for links to the series concerning the missing Malaysian airliner (flight MH370); about astronomy and space science; and about orbital debris.
NASA maintains an orbital debris office in Texas.
The scientists aren't planning on capturing any orbital debris during February's test launch.