| タイトル | Sizing of "Mother Ship and Catcher" Missions for LEO Small Debris and for GEO Large Object Capture |
| 本文（外部サイト） | http://hdl.handle.net/2060/20090041616 |
| 著者（英） | Bacon, John B. |
| 著者所属（英） | NASA Johnson Space Center |
| 発行日 | 2009-12-08 |
| 言語 | eng |
| 内容記述 | Most LEO debris lies in a limited number of inclination "bands" associated with specific useful orbits. Objects in such narrow inclination bands have all possible Right Ascensions of Ascending Node (RAANs), creating a different orbit plane for nearly every piece of debris. However, a low-orbiting satellite will always phase in RAAN faster than debris objects in higher orbits at the same inclination, potentially solving the problem. Such a low-orbiting base can serve as a "mother ship" that can tend and then send small, disposable common individual catcher/deboost devices--one for each debris object--as the facility drifts into the same RAAN as each higher object. The dV necessary to catch highly-eccentric orbit debris in the center of the band alternatively allows the capture of less-eccentric debris in a wider inclination range around the center. It is demonstrated that most LEO hazardous debris can be removed from orbit in three years, using a single LEO launch of one mother ship--with its onboard magazine of freeflying low-tech catchers--into each of ten identified bands, with second or potentially third launches into only the three highest-inclination bands. The nearly 1000 objects near the geostationary orbit present special challenges in mass, maneuverability, and ultimate disposal options, leading to a dramatically different architecture and technology suite than the LEO solution. It is shown that the entire population of near-GEO derelict objects can be gathered and tethered together within a 3 year period for future scrap-yard operations using achievable technologies and only two earth launches. |
| NASA分類 | Space Sciences (General) |
| レポートNO | JSC-CN-19380 |
| 権利 | No Copyright |
|
