JAKARTA – NASA and SpaceX are currently in the spotlight after several incidents in which debris from the International Space Station (ISS) support mission fell to Earth. Engineers believe that all the single-use materials will burn up upon return and not reach the Earth’s surface.
Engineers at the Aerospace Corporation, a government-funded research center in El Pura, California, have emphasized the urgent need for more research into what happens when a spacecraft makes an uncontrolled re-entry into the atmosphere. Currently, more objects are being launched into space than ever before, and this trend will continue as companies launch more constellations of satellites and heavier rockets.
“The urgent need right now is to do more research to really understand this whole process and be ready to accommodate new materials and new operational approaches that are happening more quickly,” said Marlon Sorge, executive director of the Center for Orbital and Reintry Debris. Aerospace Studies. “Obviously it’s in that direction. »
Ideally, the satellite or rocket at the end of its useful life could be directed to a controlled re-entry into the atmosphere over the remote part of the ocean. However, this is often expensive because it requires additional fuel for deorbit maneuvers, and in most cases the spaceplane does not have a rocket booster at all.
In March, a piece of a battery pack ejected from the space station penetrated the roof of a Florida home, a rare example of damage to terrestrial property caused by space debris.
In May, a dump weighing 90 pounds from the SpaceX dragon spacecraft leaving the International Space Station fell onto a property at a seaside “glamping” in North Carolina. At the same time, a homeowner in the nearby town found pieces of material that also appeared to be from the same dragon mission.
The incident followed the April discovery of more fragments of nearly 90 pounds of Dragona capsules on a farm in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. NASA and SpaceX later determined that the debris fell from orbit in February, and earlier this month, SpaceX employees came to the farm to decompose, according to CBC.
Debris from the DRAGO spacecraft also fell in Colorado last year, and an Australian farmer discovered DRAGO capsule debris in his arm in 2022.
Much is not yet known.
Debris from non-functioning satellites and rockets has fallen to Earth since the beginning of the space age. Metal fuel tanks from old satellites or rocket bodies often survive reintroduction and fall to Earth. Today, more rockets and satellites are made from lighter materials, such as composites.
This is the type of material used in SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft that has been found in various parts of the world in recent years. Engineers are still studying how the compounds will react to the extreme conditions during the return, where they are exposed to heat of up to several thousand degrees and aerodynamic stiles that can break the spacecraft apart.
“It’s not just the material that goes into the composite,” said Greg Henning, waste and disposal manager for Aerospace’s Space Situational Awareness division. “It’s how the composite is put together. There’s always some kind of geometry, like anaman or something, that can be unique from one plant to another, even if the ingredients are the same.”
“The orientation of spacecraft as they fall through the atmosphere can also affect their possession,” Henning said.
“Is it turning?” Did it come back with a stable configuration? There are a lot of factors that influence what actually happens during the return,” he told Ars. “It makes it harder to know whether something will last or not. »
Debris found in several Space Dragons came from the rear of the aircraft, an unencumbered circular structure installed behind the pressurized crew department. Crew capsules feature a warm protector to survive against rollback and safely return the astronaut or cargo to Earth. At the end of each mission, the dragon capsule releases the rear which is no longer needed before making a deorbit maneuver to land at sea with the assistance of imagery.
This tail then remained in orbit for several weeks to months until weak air obstructions in low Earth orbit finally picked it up in the atmosphere. The trajectory was again uncontrollable and could only be predicted to within several hours, even on return days, meaning that the debris could fall in various parts of the planet.
SpaceX and NASA, which oversees contracts for Dragon crew and cargo missions, do not expect any Dragon hardware to survive reintroduction.
“During initial design, the rear of the Dragon spacecraft was evaluated for decay upon re-entry and is expected to be completely extinguished,” NASA said in a statement. “Information from debris recovery provides opportunities for the team to improve the debris model. NASA and SpaceX will continue to explore additional solutions as we learn from the debris found.”
The Earth is spacious, and almost three-quarters of the planet is covered in water. Very rarely do incoming objects disrupt a structure or injure someone, and fallen space rubble has never killed anyone. According to the European Space Agency, a person’s annual risk of contracting space debris is less than 1 in 100 billion.
But without mitigation, this opportunity will only increase with the increasing number of satellites launched into space.
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