A piece of debris in orbit - a dangerous projectile

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Aluminum "shell" 102 mm, protecting the super-critical blocks of the ISS, which was hit by a piece of plastic at a speed of 6795 m / s.

On the left is an aluminum "shell" 102 mm thick, protecting the super-critical blocks of the international station, into which a piece of plastic (similar to the one lying below) fell at a speed of 6795 m / s. On the right is a 38-mm aluminum protection, into which, tangentially, a 6x12 mm bolt hit at a speed of 6410 m / s.

A sheet of steel is installed in front of the aluminum protection blocks, this is what happens to it when the same bolt hits it, at a speed of 6410 m / s. After the bolt pierced this sheet, it got stuck in the aluminum block. Behind the aluminum is fiberglass and ceramics.

And this is the protection from the Russian ISS Zvezda module, which was pierced by an aluminum bolt at a speed of 6800 m / s.

Portholes get it too. The thickness of the glass is 14 mm, such cracks remain in it when sand grains hit at a speed of 7152 m / s. By the way, portholes at the station consist of four such glasses, for complete protection, otherwise you never know. In the background is the back of the 102mm aluminum block shown above.

And this is a tarp for closing the docking hatches between stations during construction. This tarp hung in one of the hatches of the international station for almost two years. It is composed of multiple layers of fiberglass, ceramic, glass and ultra-strong steel fibers. The patches are intended for communications during construction, but the blue and green stickers are the hit of small pebbles and debris that were found after the tarp returned to the ground. But not a single splinter pierced the defense.

International station wiring that supplies electricity from batteries to the station. The wires are protected by heavy-duty fiberglass, high-strength steel, and special insulators. A thermoelement is inserted along its entire length, preventing a critical decrease in temperature and the appearance of the effect of superconductivity.

Bonus:

Shuttle engine. This is the world's only serial reusable rocket engine (Buran does not count, since the project has not been properly developed). Its weight is about 3200 kg. The shuttle has three such engines, in addition to the rocket boosters, to which the shuttle is attached. By the way, this engine has the highest temperature indicators among all engines on earth, it is capable of operating at temperatures from -253 C to +3312 C (!). The entire life of the engine is 7 hours, but we must not forget that during takeoff it is used for only 8.5 minutes.

The engine uses a mixture of liquid oxygen and hydrogen as fuel. Oxygen and hydrogen are contained in a large yellow tank, to which the shuttle itself is "fastened" during takeoff.

Contrary to popular belief, during takeoff, only the engines of the shuttle and the two boosters being fired are working. The big "rocket" in the middle of the launching structure is just a tank of fuel.

Three motors develop 25 times the speed of sound. If we compare the consumption of this engine with the consumption of a kerosene aircraft turbine of equivalent power, then such an engine will consume a volume of kerosene equal to the Olympic pool every 25 seconds for 8.5 minutes.