Affiliation:
1. Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies, The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, California, USA
Abstract
Re-entry of space hardware into the atmosphere is a recommended technique for disposal of space hardware at end of life. However, while aerodynamic heating and loads will break a reentering object apart and a substantial fraction of the object's mass will be melted away, evidence shows that large and potentially hazardous fragments can survive re-entry and impact the Earth's surface. Standards and regulations are emerging that will limit the acceptable hazard and require that space hardware exceeding a survivability threshold be deorbited into a safe ocean area. The current paper provides an overview of re-entry breakup, presents on-the-ground evidence that large, hazardous objects survive, highlights current guidelines, and requirements to limit the hazard to people and property, and discusses how re-entry hazards are estimated.
Subject
Mechanical Engineering,Aerospace Engineering
Reference1 articles.
1. Rainey L. B. (ed.), Space modeling and simulation roles and applications throughout the system life cycle. 2005, pp. 699–744 (The Aerospace Press, El Segundo, CA, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. Reston, VA).
Cited by
15 articles.
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