Low altitude, one centimeter, space debris search at Lincoln Laboratory's (M.I.T.) experimental test system

Abstract

The Experimental Test System of Lincoln Laboratory, the prototype observatory of the Ground-based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) network, has been used to search for, detect, and discriminate debris as small as ⋍ 1 cm in near-Earth orbit. Although constructed to observe and search for high altitude satellites, the observatory (two 80 cm, equatorially mounted, Cassegrain instruments) has been successfully modified to perform similar tasks on asteroids, daytime observations of near-Earth satellites, and the present endeavor. In particular, the separation of the instruments and their resolution element size allows the discrimination of artificial satellites from meteors. The parallax at ⋍ 80 km elevation is ⋍ 150″ and the video line spacing is ⋍ 4″. We have successfully combined the video signals from the two electron beam, bombarded silicon target cameras for this purpose. Furthermore, by observing at the optimum times, we have increased our sensitivity. Herein we present statistical summaries of tens of hours of observing and we calculate the elevation distribution of the debris population (to B ⋍ 16 ▪5). A summary of the data collected on meteors is also included. Debris is eight times as populous as tracked satellites.