MODEST observations of space debris at geosynchronous orbit
Abstract
Results will be presented from a new optical survey of objects at geosynchronous orbit (GEO). The goal is to determine the total population of debris objects at GEO to a small a limiting size as possible. This survey uses the University of Michigan's 0.6/0.9-m Schmidt telescope MODEST (for Michigan Orbital DEbris Survey Telescope). Located at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, the system is equipped with a scanning CCD with a field of view of 1.3 by 1.3 degrees, and can detect object smaller than 20 cm diameter at GEO. Each night the telescope scans a strip of sky 100 degrees long by 1.3 degrees high. Up to eight independent detections are made of each candidate GEO object in a five minute time span, yielding measurements of brightness, position, and angular motion. Since February 2001, an extensive series of observations of the GEO regime has been carried out with this system, revealing a considerable population of objects smaller than 1 meter. We will report on what these observations reveal about the debris environment at GEO. This project is supported at the University of Michigan by NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office, Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas.
- Publication:
-
34th COSPAR Scientific Assembly
- Pub Date:
- 2002
- Bibcode:
- 2002cosp...34E1128S