Tests Help Refine Habitat Shielding Against Micrometeoroids, Debris

Sierra Space, a commercial space company developing a space platform for defense and research, announced the recent successful completion of hypervelocity impact studies at the NASA White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico, to refine the structural integrity of the company’s Large Integrated Flexible Environment, or LIFE, habitat.

The goal of the testing was to refine the design of a shield for the habitat to enable it to withstand high-velocity impacts from micrometeorites or orbital debris (MMOD) while on orbit.

The LIFE habitat’s shield is constructed from an innovative, high-strength, flexible “softgoods” – a chemically-woven fabric material known as Vectran, and provides a durable yet lightweight alternative to rigid structures.

Hypervelocity impacts were simulated using a two-stage light gas gun to propel a .50 caliber projectile at speeds of about 7 km per second.

The gun uses gunpowder in the first stage and highly compressed hydrogen gas in the second stage to accelerate the projectiles at very high velocities to simulate impacts on spacecraft and satellite materials and components. The tests are performed in a near-vacuum chamber to simulate the space environment.

The testing was conducted under an agreement called Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilties at the Remote Hypervelocity Test Laboratory, a NASA facility that has been used to test shielding that are in use to protect spacecraft.

FMI:  www.sierraspace.com/