MADWEB ARCHIVE

Welcome to the MADWEB Archive

What is MADWEB (Meteoroids and Debris Website)?

Three major impact studies have been carried out to date by the European Space Agency (ESA) to investigate the effects of micrometeoroids and space debris impacts on satellite hardware. One of these studies analysed hardware retreived from the European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA), and the other two looked at solar array assemblies from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), returned to Earth by HST Servicing Missions.

On the right hand side you can find the topics and questions that drive the current Post Flight Analysis efforts.

The Post Flight Analysis descriptions below provide an overview about hardware retrieved from Eureca and HST. Included are information about flight times, and a list of available reports.

Hubble Space Telescope (HST)

European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA)

Why Perform Post-Flight Analysis?
Positioning in space debris research

Micrometeoroids and Space Debris
Natural and man-made small objects in space

Hypervelocity Impact
The physics of impacts at high speeds

Impact Features
How to measure and categorise an impact

Fluxes
Amount and severity of impacts per duration

Damage Equations
Impact behaviour as parametric equations

Models
Describing the satellite environment

1. EURECA Post Flight Analysis 1/2:
Retrieved by the Space Shuttle in June 1993 after 326 days in space at an altitude around 500 km.
Total exposed surface area ~ 140 square metres.
Solar Cells - Multi-Layer Insulation & Other Surfaces - Residue Analysis.

2. HST Post Flight Analysis 1:
One solar array assembly wing was retrieved in December 1993 after 3.62 years in orbit (~ 600 km altitude).
Total exposed surface area ~ 40 m2.sqm.square metres.
Solar Cells - Multi-Layer Insulation & Other Surfaces - Residue Analysis.

3. HST Post Flight Analysis 2:
Two solar array assemblies were retrieved in March 2002 after 8.24 years in orbit (> 600 km altitude).
Total surface area ~ 120 sqm.square metres.
Solar Cells.

Examples of Impact Features and Derived Fluxes

The following images are a small selection of the solar cell, residue analysis, MLI and other surfaces photos within this website, as well as derived fluxes.

Low resolution picture of impact on HST Solar Panel -V2 wing - front side (PFA 2) Low resolution picture of impact on HST Solar Panel -V2 wing - rear side (PFA 2)

Low resolution picture of impact on HST Solar Panel -V2 wing - front side (PFA 2) Low resolution picture of impact on HST Solar Panel -V2 wing - rear side (PFA 2)

Low resolution picture of impact on HST Solar Panel -V2 wing - front side (PFA 2) Low resolution picture of impact on HST Solar Panel -V2 wing - rear side (PFA 2)

High resolution picture of impact on HST Solar Panel - front side (PFA 1) High resolution picture of impact on HST Solar Panel - front side (PFA 1)

Scanning Electron Microscope picture of impact on HST Solar Panel Cell 41 A8 (PFA 2 Residue Analysis) Scanning Electron Microscope picture of impact on HST Solar Panel Cell 15 F5 (PFA 2 Residue Analysis)

High resolution picture of impact on HST Solar Panel - front side (PFA 1 Residue Analysis) High resolution picture of impact on HST Solar Panel - front side (PFA 1 Residue Analysis)

High resolution picture of impact on HST Solar Panel - front side (PFA 1 Residue Analysis) High resolution picture of impact on HST Solar Panel - front side (PFA 1 Residue Analysis)

Picture of impact on HST Solar Array Mechanism (PFA 1 MLI Analysis) Picture of impact on HST Multi Layer Insulation (PFA 1 MLI Analysis)

High resolution picture of impact on EURECA Solar Panel Wing 2 - front side (PFA 1) High resolution picture of impact on EURECA Solar Panel Wing 2 - front side (PFA 1)

High resolution picture of impact on EURECA Solar Panel Wing 1 - front side (PFA 1) High resolution picture of impact on EURECA Solar Panel Wing 2 - front side (PFA 1)

Figure of flux models (Estimated results) Figure of flux results