A Geosynchronous Orbit Search Strategy

Since more than 10 years there is evidence that small-size space debris is accumulating in the geosynchronous orbit (GEO), probably as the result of breakups. Two break-ups have been reported in GEO. The 1978 break-up of an EKRAN 2 satellite, SSN 10365, was identified in 1992, and in 1992 a Titan 3C Transtage, SSN 3432, break-up produced at least twenty observable pieces. Subsequently several nations performed optical surveys of the GEO region in the form of independent observation campaigns. Such surveys suffer from the fact that the field of view of optical telescopes is small compared with the total area covered by the GEO ring. As a consequence only a small volume of the orbital element-magnitude-space is covered by each individual survey. Results from these surveys are thus affected by observational biases and therefore difficult to compare. This paper describes the development of a common search strategy to overcome these limitations. The strategy optimizes the sampling for objects in orbits similar to the orbits of the known GEO population but does not exclude the detection of objects with other orbital planes. A properly designed common search strategy clearly eases the comparison of results from different groups and the extrapolation from the sparse (biased) samples to the entire GEO environment.     

The Suess-Urey mission (return of solar matter to Earth)

The Suess-Urey (S-U) mission has been proposed as a NASA Discovery mission to return samples of matter from the Sun to the Earth for isotopic and chemical analyses in terrestrial laboratories to provide a major improvement in our knowledge of the average chemical and isotopic composition of the solar system. The S-U spacecraft and sample return capsule will be placed in a halo orbit around the L1 Sun-Earth libration point for two years to collect solar wind ions which implant into large passive collectors made of ultra-pure materials. Constant Spacecraft-Sun-Earth geometries enable simple spin stabilized attitude control, simple passive thermal control, and a fixed medium gain antenna. Low data requirements and the safety of a Sun-pointed spinner, result in extremely low mission operations costs.     

Debris flux comparisons from the Goldstone Radar,Haystack Radar,and Hax Radar prior,during, and after the last solar maximum

The continual monitoring of the low Earth orbit (LEO) debris environment using highly sensitive radars is essential for an accurate characterization of these dynamic populations. Debris populations are continually evolving since there are new debris sources, previously unrecognized debris sources, and debris loss mechanisms that are dependent on the dynamic space environment. Such radar data are used to supplement, update, and validate existing orbital debris models. NASA has been utilizing radar observations of the debris environment for over a decade from three complementary radars: the NASA JPL Goldstone radar, the MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL) Long Range Imaging Radar (known as the Haystack radar), and the MIT/LL Haystack Auxiliary radar (HAX). All of these systems are highly sensitive radars that operate in a fixed staring mode to statistically sample orbital debris in the LEO environment. Each of these radars is ideally suited to measure debris within a specific size region. The Goldstone radar generally observes objects with sizes from 2 mm to 1 cm. The Haystack radar generally measures from 5 mm to several meters. The HAX radar generally measures from 2 cm to several meters. These overlapping size regions allow a continuous measurement of cumulative debris flux versus diameter from 2 mm to several meters for a given altitude window. This is demonstrated for all three radars by comparing the debris flux versus diameter over 200 km altitude windows for 3 nonconsecutive years from 1998 to 2003. These years correspond to periods before, during, and after the peak of the last solar cycle. Comparing the year to year flux from Haystack for each of these altitude regions indicate statistically significant changes in subsets of the debris populations. Potential causes of these changes are discussed. These analysis results include error bars that represent statistical sampling errors.     

Identification of a debris cloud from the nuclear powered SNAPSHOT satellite with haystack radar measurements

Data from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory Long Range Imaging Radar (known as the Haystack radar) have been used in the past to examine families of objects from individual satellite breakups or families of orbiting objects that can be isolated in altitude and inclination. This is possible because, for some time after a breakup, the debris cloud of particles can remain grouped together in similar orbit planes. This cloud will be visible to the radar, in fixed staring mode, for a short time twice each day, as the orbit plane moves through the field of view. There should be a unique three-dimensional pattern in observation time, range, and range rate which can identify the cloud. Eventually, through slightly differing precession rates of the right ascension of ascending node of the debris cloud, the observation time becomes distributed so that event identification becomes much more difficult.     

The Genesis Discovery Mission: Return of Solar Matter to Earth

The Genesis Discovery mission will return samples of solar matter for analysis of isotopic and elemental compositions in terrestrial laboratories. This is accomplished by exposing ultra-pure materials to the solar wind at the L1 Lagrangian point and returning the materials to Earth. Solar wind collection will continue until April 2004 with Earth return in Sept. 2004. The general science objectives of Genesis are to (1) to obtain solar isotopic abundances to the level of precision required for the interpretation of planetary science data, (2) to significantly improve knowledge of solar elemental abundances, (3) to measure the composition of the different solar wind regimes, and (4) to provide a reservoir of solar matter to serve the needs of planetary science in the 21st century. The Genesis flight system is a sun-pointed spinner, consisting of a spacecraft deck and a sample return capsule (SRC). The SRC houses a canister which contains the collector materials. The lid of the SRC and a cover to the canister were opened to begin solar wind collection on November 30, 2001. To obtain samples of O and N ions of higher fluence relative to background levels in the target materials, an electrostatic mirror (‘concentrator’) is used which focuses the incoming ions over a diameter of about 20 cm onto a 6 cm diameter set of target materials. Solar wind electron and ion monitors (electrostatic analyzers) determine the solar wind regime present at the spacecraft and control the deployment of separate arrays of collector materials to provide the independent regime samples. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Modeling of LEO orbital debris populations for ORDEM2008

The NASA Orbital Debris Engineering Model, ORDEM2000, is in the process of being updated to a new version: ORDEM2008. The data-driven ORDEM covers a spectrum of object size from 10 μm to greater than 1 m, and ranging from LEO (low Earth orbit) to GEO (geosynchronous orbit) altitude regimes. ORDEM2008 centimeter-sized populations are statistically derived from Haystack and HAX (the Haystack Auxiliary) radar data, while micron-sized populations are estimated from shuttle impact records. Each of the model populations consists of a large number of orbits with specified orbital elements, the number of objects on each orbit (with corresponding uncertainty), and the size, type, and material assignment for each object. This paper describes the general methodology and procedure commonly used in the statistical inference of the ORDEM2008 LEO debris populations. Major steps in the population derivations include data analysis, reference-population construction, definition of model parameters in terms of reference populations, linking model parameters with data, seeking best estimates for the model parameters, uncertainty analysis, and assessment of the outcomes. To demonstrate the population-derivation process and to validate the Bayesian statistical model applied in the population derivations throughout, this paper uses illustrative examples for the special cases of large-size (>1 m, >32 cm, and >10 cm) populations that are tracked by SSN (the Space Surveillance Network) and also monitored by Haystack and HAX radars operating in a staring mode.