Publication Date:
2019-06-28
Description:
This report summarizes the damage analyses performed on the tether cable used for the tethered satellite system (TSS), for the damage that could be caused by meteoroid or orbital debris impacts. The TSS consists of a tethered satellite deployer and a tethered satellite. The analytical studies were performed at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) with the results from the following tests: (1) hypervelocity impact tests to determine the 'critical' meteoroid particle diameter, i.e., the maximum size of a meteoroid particle which can impact the tether cable without causing 'failure'; (2) electrical resistance tests on the damaged and undamaged tether cable to determine if degradation of current flow occurred through the damaged tether cables; and (3) tensile load tests to verify the load carrying capability of the damaged tether cables. Finally, the HULL hydrodynamic computer code was used to simulate the hypervelocity impact of the tether cable by particles at velocities higher than can be tested, to determine the extent of the expected tether damage.
Keywords:
SPACECRAFT DESIGN, TESTING AND PERFORMANCE
Type:
NASA-TM-108404
,
NAS 1.15:108404
Format:
application/pdf
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