A review of shielding systems for protecting off-earth structures from micrometeoroid and orbital debris impact
Md. Abdur Rakib, Scott T. Smith, T. Tafsirojjaman
Abstract
There is growing momentum, as articulated through the visions of space agencies, to establish permanent settlements on planetary bodies such as the Moon and Mars. One key hazard that structures will be subjected to will be hypervelocity impacts of micrometeoroids and orbital debris. Shielding against such impacts is essential to ensure the safety of structures and their human inhabitants. There has, however, been limited research on such shields and no field applications to date. In order to inform the composition and design of protective shields for planetary structures, recourse can be made to protective shields utilised in spacecraft and space stations that have benefitted from years of research and development. This paper reviews the existing shielding practices for spacecraft and space stations as a starting point for the shielding of planetary structures. Shield configurations are firstly introduced. Both experimental tests and numerical simulations required to evaluate the performance of the shields are then discussed. Analytical prediction models for shields are reviewed, and the predictions of these models are compared with test results of corresponding shields from the literature. Finally, the effect of parameters such as projectile diameter, impact velocity, impact angle, and shield geometry on the overall shield performance is analysed. This paper ultimately provides technical knowledge about the shielding systems for spacecraft and space stations that can be used as a point of reference for scientists and engineers to develop shields for structures on planetary bodies.