Spacecraft design-for-demise strategy, analysis and impact on low earth orbit space missions
Name
429048142-MIT.pdf
Description
Full printable version
Size
4.35 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
5ef2e7495fcbae3a8af930145042fbe7
Author(s)
Waswa, M. B. Peter (Peter Moses Bweya)
Advisor(s)
Jeffrey A. Hoffman.
Date Issued
2009
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Uncontrolled reentry into the Earth atmosphere by LEO space missions whilst complying with stipulated NASA Earth atmospheric reentry requirements is a vital endeavor for the space community to pursue. An uncontrolled reentry mission that completely ablates does not require a provision for integrated controlled reentry capability. Consequently, not only will such a mission design be relatively simpler and cheaper, but also mission unavailability risk due to a controlled reentry subsystem failure is eliminated, which improves mission on-orbit reliability and robustness. Intentionally re-designing the mission such that the spacecraft components ablate (demise) during uncontrolled reentry post-mission disposal is referred to as Design-for-Demise (DfD). Re-designing spacecraft parts to demise guarantees adherence to NASA reentry requirements that dictate the risk of human casualty anywhere on Earth due to a reentering debris with KE =/> 15J be less than 1:10,000 (0.0001). NASA sanctioned missions have traditionally ad- dressed this requirement by integrating a controlled reentry provision. However, momentum is building for a new paradigm shift towards designing reentry missions to demise instead. Therefore, this thesis proposes a DfD decision making methodology; DfD implementation and execution strategy throughout the LEO mission life-cycle; scrutinizes reentry analysis software tools and uses NASA Debris Analysis Software (DAS) to demonstrate the reentry demisability analysis process; proposes methods to identify and redesign hardware parts for demise; and finally considers the HETE-2 mission as a DfD demisability case study. Reentry analysis show HETE-2 mission to be compliant with NASA uncontrolled atmospheric reentry requirements.
Description
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2009.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-106) and index.
Subjects
Aeronautics and Astronautics.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
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reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written
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