HIGHLY TRANSPARENT AND RUGGED SENSOR FOR METEOROIDS AND SPACE DEBRIS

THE MAIN PURPOSE OF THIS INNOVATIVE RESEARCH EFFORT IS TO DEVELOP A SIMPLE SYSTEM TO MEASURE THE VELOCITY VECTOR OF A DUST PARTICLE. IN THIS CASE, WE ARE CONCENTRATING OUR EFFORT ON EARTH ORBIT AND INTERPLANETARY DUST PARTICLES OF MASSES OF LESS THAN 10(-3)G AS REQUESTED. ALL SUBTOPICS, SUCH AS SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INNOVATION, TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES, ETC. ARE DISCUSSED IN SEQUENCE AS REQUIRED BY THE RFP. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS INNOVATION ISA FOURFOLD ONE: A) SIMPLE AND RUGGED DESIGN, B) HIGHLY TRANSPARENT SENSOR SYSTEM, C) HIGH ACCURACY OF VECTOR VELOCITY MEASUREMENT AND D) A CATCHER CAN EASILY BE ADDED FOR CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL ANALYSES OF THE PARTICLES. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS EFFORT IS A TWOFOLD ONE: A) DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT A SIMPLE LABORATORY MODEL AND B) TEST THIS MODEL USING PELLETS AND A DUST ACCELERATOR (MOORHEAD, MINNESOTA, OR MAX-PLANCK-INSTITUT, HEIDELBERG, GERMANY). THE ANTICIPATED RESULT WILL BE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CRITICALDESIGN PARAMETERS SUCH AS ROD CHARACTERISTICS, ROD SPACING, ELECTRICAL SHIELDING, SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO, ETC. WITH THESE DATA A SPECIFIC PHASE II DESIGN EFFORT CAN BE STARTED. A VERY SIMPLE 12-ROD TEST MODEL HAS BEEN BUILT BY ARC UNDER ITS OWN FUNDING AND TESTED AT THE HEIDELBERG FACILITY DURINGJUNE 12-15, 1989. THE RESULTS WERE AS PREDICTED AND DEMONSTRATED THE VALIDITY OF OUR METHOD.