Abstract

The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) provides the first well quantified data for evaluating the meteoroid and debris environment models, as well as for evaluation of the synergistic effects of the low-Earth orbit space environments. Preliminary analysis of the LDEF data indicates that the cumulative number of impacts received in the spacecraft velocity (ram) direction were well predicted by the models. However, the time-dependent and directional distributions were not correctly predicted. In addition, data from LDEF related to impacts in thermal control paints indicate previously undocumented impact zone morphologies. Analysis of the atomic oxygen erosion patterns on these new morphologies may provide a method for determining the age and time-dependence of the impact features in these paints.

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