The collision probability can reach a certain percentage for big structures and long missions. In view of the Hermes and Columbus projects, the Europeans examined the American approach to this problem, such as the foundation of the U.S. intergovernmental Working Group on Space Debris. The manned modules of the future International Space Station will be protected with enclosures, whose weight represents 25 percent of the total structure mass. Another problem arises with the extravehicular activities, for which NASA calculated a risk of collision for 700,000 hours. It is essential to produce new mathematic models of the simulation of production of debris by explosions and collisions in space, and of the dynamics of debris clouds. A better cooperation with NASA is advisable. Future explosions in space must be avoided, and objects must be moved away from the terrestrial orbit as quickly as possible in order to limit the creation of new debris.
Kurzbericht ueber Konsequenzen und Erforderliche Massnahmen der Studie: Das Gegenwaertige und Zukuenftige Risiko der Kollision von Satelliten und Bemannten Plattformen MIT Anderen Raumflugobjekten und Schrotteilen Auf Erdnahen Umlaufbahnen (Present and Future Risk of Satellite and Manned Platforms Collisions with Other Space Objects and Particles on Earth Orbits)
1988
11 pages
Report
No indication
English