Susan Lederer, NASA Johnson Space Center, H. M. Cowardin, Univ. Texas El Paso, B. A. Buckalew, JETS Jacobs Technology, J. M. Frith, Univ. Texas El Paso, P. Hickson, Univ. British Columbia, L. F. Pace, NASA JSC, M. Matney, NASA JSC, P. D. Anz-Meador, JETS Jacobs Technology, P. Seitzer, Univ. Michigan, E. G. Stansbery, NASA JSC, T. Glesne, Schafer Pacific Corporation
Keywords: orbital debris, optical, infrared, measurements, telescopes
Abstract:
Characterizing debris in Earth-orbit has become increasingly important as the growing population of debris poses greater threats to active satellites each year. Currently, the Joint Space Operations is tracking > 23,000 objects ranging in size from 1-meter and larger in Geosychronous orbits (GEO) to 10-cm and larger at low-Earth orbits (LEO). Model estimates suggest that there are hundreds of thousands of pieces of spacecraft debris larger than 10 cm currently in orbit around the Earth. With such a small fraction of the total population being tracked, and new break-ups occurring from LEO to GEO, new assets, techniques, and approaches for characterizing this debris are needed. With this in mind, NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office has actively tasked a suite of telescopes around the world. In 2015, the newly-built 1.3m optical Meter Class Autonomous Telescope (MCAT) came on-line on Ascension Island and is now being commissioned. MCAT is designed to track Earth-orbiting objects above 200km, conduct surveys at GEO, and work with a co-located Raven-class commercial-off-the-shelf system, a 0.4m telescope with a field-of-view similar to MCAT’s and research-grade instrumentation designed to complement MCAT. The 3.8m infrared UKIRT telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii has been heavily tasked to collect data on individual targets and in survey modes to study both the general GEO population and a break-up event. Data collected include photometry and spectroscopy in the near-Infrared (0.85 – 2.5μm) and the mid-infrared (8-16μm). Finally, the 6.5-m Baade Magellan telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile was used to collect optical photometric survey data in October 2015 of two GEO Titan transtage breakups, focusing on locations of possible debris concentrations as indicated by the NASA standard break-up model.
Date of Conference: September 20-23, 2016
Track: Orbital Debris