Space Surveillance, Asteroids and Comets, and Space Debris. Volume 3: Space Debris Summary Report

Abstract

This Study was produced by the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). It was requested by the Commander Air Force Space Command and approved by the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Air Force. It covers three topics, each of sufficient depth to be a study of its own: Space Surveillance, Asteroid and Comet Impact Warning for Earth, and Space Debris. NASA personnel predicted in 1978 that collisional cascading would be an important source of new orbital debris, possibly before the year 2000, and, as a result, would make low Earth orbits at Space Shuttle altitudes unusable. In 1991, NASA published an article that said these predictions were reinforced by events in 1986 and 1990. Out of concern that the United Nations might take actions to regulate further the existing Air Force launch debris mitigation procedures, the SAB was asked to recalculate the debris phenomenon. The SAB Committee has shown that cascading is not an issue in the coming hundred years and recommends that the Air Force continue its established launch and on orbit debris mitigation procedures

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1997
Accession Number
ADA412613

Entities

People

  • A. F. Pensa
  • G. H. Canavan
  • O. P. Judd
  • R. A. Clinton
  • R. Naka

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Altitude
  • Artificial Satellites
  • Earth Orbits
  • Elliptical Orbits
  • Low Earth Orbits
  • Manned Spacecraft
  • Orbits
  • Signals Intelligence
  • Space Debris
  • Space Objects
  • Space Shuttles
  • Space Surveillance
  • Spacecraft
  • Spacecraft Orbits
  • Surveillance
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering.
  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris