At these speeds even the tiniest of trash could have a major impact on a spacecraft. Orbital debris is a continual threat to missions that NASA has a dedicated division conducting hypervelocity impact measurements to assess the risk of orbital debris on spacecrafts (man or unmanned) and working to develop materials to protect against impact. To actively track all this debris NASA along with the U.S. Department of Defense use telescopes and laser radars (ladars) to keep an eye on the growing quantity and location of this debris. To help in the space junk tracking effort, engineers at MIT have developed a “laser sensing technique called Laser Polarimetry” that can identify what kind of junk is out there and help determine the size, shape and makeup of the space junk. In turn, this information could help NASA with hypervelocity impact predictions. With most the orbital debris residing 1,250 miles of the Earth’s surface, with the greatest found 500-530 out, using MIT’s technology and knowing where particular types of debris are located could be a huge help in predicting a potential impact. Currently the International Space Station is the most heavily protected spacecraft, the habitable compartments and external high pressure tanks can withstand impacts from debris about 1 cm in diameter. If they know a larger object is coming their way, the pilots can maneuver the spacecraft to avoid tracked objects. The engineers figured how to identify the makeup of certain debris based on the reflection or unique polarization change the object gives off from the laser while in motion. Read more about space and NASA at Tech.Co Photos courtesy of NASA
