Rings of Earth

Author

Goldstein, Richard M. ; Randolph, L.W.

Author_Institution

Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA

Volume

40

Issue

6

fYear

1992

fDate

6/1/1992 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1077

Lastpage

1080

Abstract

The authors have used the planetary radar at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory´s Goldstone Tracking Station to monitor small particles of orbital debris. This radar can detect metallic objects as small as 1.8 mm in diameter at an altitude of 600 km. The results of the first set of observations show a flux (at 600 km) of 6.4 objects per square kilometre per day, of equivalent size of 1.8 mm or larger. Forty percent of the observed particles appear to be concentrated into one or two orbits. An orbital ring with the same inclination as the radar (35.1°) is suggested. However, an orbital band with the much higher inclination of 66° is also a possibility. Neither explanation is without difficulty

Keywords

artificial satellites; pollution; remote sensing by radar; safety; space research; tracking systems; 1.8 mm; 600 km; Goldstone Tracking Station; Jet Propulsion Laboratory; LED; low Earth orbit; metallic objects; observations; orbital band; orbital debris; orbital ring; planetary radar; pollution; rings of Earth; small particles monitoring; space debris; space junk; Airborne radar; Earth; Monitoring; Object detection; Orbits; Particle tracking; Propulsion; Radar detection; Radar tracking; Space debris;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Microwave Theory and Techniques, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9480

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/22.141338

Filename

141338