Sampling the orbital debris population using a foil residue collector in a standardised container for experiments (SCE)

Monitoring small particles responsible for hypervelocity impact damage in orbit may rely upon post-flight investigation of returned spacecraft components, or deployment of dedicated collectors and sensors. Returned surfaces do generate invaluable data as to the origin of particles, but provide time-averaged data, and require costly missions for successful return. The exposed material may also be a difficult substrate on which to locate and analyse residue from impacting particles. Preparation and analysis may be very time-consuming and require damage to large components. Sophisticated electronic sensors deployed upon spacecraft in a wide range of orbits may yield detailed information about impact timing and energy, and allow inferences as to velocity and chemical composition of the particle, but do not provide material for subsequent analysis in the laboratory. Even monitoring of particle fluxes in low Earth orbit, from which samples may be returned during service missions or crew changeover, requires substantial preparation for safe accommodation and transport of the returned hardware. It thus seems that there is great potential for a simple dedicated, reusable, modular, low-mass collector that requires no data or power services from its host spacecraft and which might be deployed and retrieved for analysis as opportunity arises. Careful appraisal of samples returned from space suggests that polymer foils will the most suitable collector material. In this paper we concentrate upon the design and fabrication of materials and container dedicated to collection of hypervelocity impact residues and their interpretation on return to Earth.