Abstract
A simple dynamic model to investigate the relative fluxes and particle velocities on a spacecraft’s different faces is presented. The results for LDEF are consistent with a predominantly interplanetary origin for the larger particulates, but a sizable population of orbital particles with sizes capable of penetrating foils of thickness <30μm. Data from experiments over the last 30 years do not show the rise in flux expected if these were space debris. The possibility of a population of natural orbital particulates awaits confirmation from chemical residue analysis.
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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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McDonnell, J.A.M., Sullivan, K., Green, S.F., Stevenson, T.J., Niblett, D.H. (1991). Dynamic Modelling Transformations for the Low Earth Orbit Satellite Particulate Environment. In: Levasseur-Regourd, A.C., Hasegawa, H. (eds) Origin and Evolution of Interplanetary Dust. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 173. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3640-2_7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3640-2_7
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