VACUUM PLUME IMPINGEMENT EVALUATOR

AS THE ORBITAL MANEUVERING VEHICLE OR ASTRONAUTS SEATED IN THE MAN MANEUVERING UNIT MOVE EXTERNALLY ABOUT THE SPACE STATION TO PERFORM ASSEMBLY, MAINTENANCE, PAYLOAD SERVICING,AND OTHER EVA ACTIVITIES, THEIR RCS MICRO-THRUSTER PLUMES MAY IMPINGE ON VARIOUS STRUCTURES/PAYLOADS CREATING LOCALLY SEVERE ENVIRONMENTS AND SURFACE CONTAMINATION. THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR POTENTIALLY SEVERE IMPINGEMENT AND CONTAMINATION ARE UNBOUNDED SINCE MISSION PLANS ARE NOT FINALIZED, STATION GROWTH WILL OCCUR, AND PAYLOADS WILL BE CONSTANTLY CHANGING. AN ENGINEERING TOOL IS NEEDED WHICH WILL GEOMETRICALLY TRACK ANY ARBITRARY THRUSTER PLUME OVER THE STATION, PROVIDE A QUICK COMPUTATION OF THE ENVIRONMENT AT ANY POSITION, AND EVALUATE THE CRITICALITY OF THE IMPINGEMENT ENVIRONMENT. THE PROPOSED STUDY WILL DEVELOP THE METHODOLOGY TO PERFORM THE EVALUATION UTILIZING EXISTINGVACUUM PLUME DATA WITH A 3-D GRAPHICS TRACKING SOFTWARE CAPABILITY. CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING THE PLUME IMPINGEMENT CRITICALITY WILL BE DEVELOPED AND INCORPORATED INTO THE CODE. A TEST PROGRAM TO VALIDATE THE CODE WILL BE FORMULATED.