Abstract
Small space debris objects of even a few centimeters can cause severe damage to satellites. Powerful lasers are often proposed for pushing small debris by laser-ablative recoil toward an orbit where atmospheric burn-up yields their remediation. We analyze whether laser-ablative momentum generation is safe and reliable concerning predictability of momentum and accumulation of heat at the target. With hydrodynamic simulations on laser ablation of aluminum as the prevalent debris material, we study laser parameter dependencies of thermomechanical coupling. The results serve as configuration for raytracing-based Monte Carlo simulations on imparted momentum and heat of randomly shaped fragments within a Gaussian laser spot. Orbit modification and heating are analyzed exemplarily under repetitive laser irradiation. Short wavelengths are advantageous, yielding momentum coupling up to ∼40 mNs / kJ, and thermal coupling can be minimized to 7% of the pulse energy using short-laser pulses. Random target orientation yields a momentum uncertainty of 86% and the thrust angle exhibits 40% scatter around 45 deg. Moreover, laser pointing errors at least redouble the uncertainty in momentum prediction. Due to heat accumulation of a few Kelvin per pulse, their number is restricted to allow for intermediate cooldown. Momentum scatter requires a sound collision analysis for conceivable trajectory modifications.
Highlights
1.1 MotivationWhen one discovers a shooting star at night, this usually means an opportunity to make a secret wish
In the Ordem model debris objects are categorized by their density, the great variety of debris objects considered in the Master model is grouped by its source of formation
Typical experimental data on ηres are 15% to 25% throughout a pulse length range from 60 fs to 6 μs, but values of up to 40% and down to 10% can be found as well.[20,21]. Since this heat load per pulse contains much more energy than that expected to be reradiated from a debris during repetitive laser irradiation, heat accumulation at the target has to be considered—an effect that is already reported as a problematic issue in laser material processing,[22] where even more fortunate circumstances are usually present
Summary
When one discovers a shooting star at night, this usually means an opportunity to make a secret wish. Man-made space junk poses a serious threat to any space mission—being it manned space flight or one of the numerous satellites whose usage has become part of our daily life. It was already impressively illustrated in April 2010 how small particles may have a significant impact on modern transportation: volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajökull on Iceland posed a massive danger to aircraft engines and disabled any aircraft movement over Europe for several days. If >1 cm, debris objects typically pose a lethal
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