Reinhard Friedel, NASA Headquarters; Alex Fletcher, NASA SMD – Heliophyscis; Jamie Favors, NASA Headquarters Heliophyscis Division; Travis Blake, NASA Headquarters, Science Mission Directorate
Keywords: small OD, in-situ OD instrumentation, OD science
Abstract:
Within the Heliophysics Division (HPD) of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) , Orbital Debris – Space Situational Awareness (OD-SSA) has been stood up as an “activity” in early 2021, with OD-SSA becoming an official part of HPD’s Space Weather Program in FY24. OD (anthropogenic debris, micro meteorites and dust) are now included in HPD’s definition of the Space Working Environment – defined as all parts of the space environment that affect human activities in space.
This talk will present an overview of the OD-SSA activities in HPD, past and present, including:
– Addressing the measurement gap of <1cm OD (instrument development concepts and flight opportunities)
– Mission Design Lab activities on a dedicated small OD characterization mission
– New OD science – signatures of objects moving through a space plasma
Date of Conference: September 17-20, 2024
Track: Space Debris