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Protecting the Space Station from Meteoroids and Orbital Debris (1997) / Chapter Skim
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6: COLLISION WARNING AND AVOIDANCE
Pages 46-50

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 46...
... The maneuver box is many times larger than the ISS to provide a safety margin because the locations of tracked objects are not precisely known. To reduce disturbance to microgravity experiments, the ISS program requires that the avoidance scheme require less than six maneuvers per year.
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From page 47...
... The ISS program estimates that, once a warning is received, it will take two hours to coordinate the maneuver through the RSA, communicate instructions to the crew, prepare the ISS to perform the boost maneuver, fire the thrusters, and have the ISS actually move the required distance. ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS Reducing False Warnings To minimize disturbances to microgravity experiments, the ISS program needs to reduce the number of unnecessary collision avoidance maneuvers.
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From page 48...
... Improving the system to allow it to catalog debris smaller than 10 cm would require adding new sensors, retasking current and future sensors, developing new procedures and algorithms, and improving computational capability. Although NASA would like to see the SSN sensitivity threshold improved, the DoD does not have a mission to achieve tracking accuracies for objects smaller than 10 cm in diameter.
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From page 49...
... Thus, the sensors would have to detect and obtain accurate knowledge of the orbital characteristics of an incoming object only from data obtained as the object approaches the station at average closing speeds of about 9 km/s. (Such a sensor capable of reliably detecting oncoming debris from a wide variety of angles, without consuming the majority of the electric power generated by the station, is well beyond current capabilities.)
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From page 50...
... NASA should work closely with the Space Surveillance Network to determine what Space Surveillance Network support will be available to the International Space Station over its lifetime and to determine whether improvements in that support are possible. REFERENCES Kessler, D.J.
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Key Terms

  • international space
  • iss program
  • station program
  • microgravity experiments
  • avoidance maneuvers

  • space surveillance
  • collision avoidance
  • surveillance network
  • sensor capable
  • ground stations

  • incoming object
  • orbital debris
  • maneuver box
  • russian ground
  • space command

  • program plans
  • false warnings
  • radial direction
  • detecting oncoming
  • accurate algorithm

  • barring major
  • russian mir
  • program estimates
  • catalog debris
  • current capabilities

  • force space
  • major leaps
  • accurate knowledge
  • maneuver fast
  • close conjunctions


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