This chapter summarised the classical and innovative methods of protecting spacecraft or satellite components against small space debris. It also presented the detection and sensing methods proposed to monitor the impact and its characteristic. The FBG sensors are very promising to monitor the micrometeorites and small space debris starting from their impact and fast effect with the possibility of comparing the effect at long term after the impact which common sensors cannot perform.Their signal can be easily correlated with that given by other sensors, to measure, for example, the shock propagation speed within the target.

Chapter Contents:

• 6.1 Shield against micrometeorites and orbital debris
• 6.2 Micrometeorites and orbital debris impact detection
• 6.2.1 Methods not using fibre optic sensors
• 6.2.2 Detection with optical fibres
• 6.3 Experimental study of micrometeorites and orbital space debris
• 6.4 Fibre Bragg grating response to hypervelocity impacts
• 6.5 Experimental results with different target materials
• 6.5.1 Main effects of space debris micrometeorites
• 6.5.2 Experimental work
• 6.5.3 Selection of the 5E2N monomer for the self-healing materials
• 6.5.4 The 5E2N monomer encapsulation
• 6.5.5 Chemical constituents
• 6.5.6 Monomer diffusion under vacuum
• 6.5.7 Fabrication of woven carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer samples embedded microcapsules containing 5E2N and dicyclopentadiene monomers and Grubb's catalyst
• 6.5.8 Fibre Bragg grating within multilayer Kevlar/Epoxy
• 6.5.9 Fibre Bragg grating within multilayer carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer/epoxy
• 6.6 Conclusions
• References

Inspec keywords: shock measurement; aerospace instrumentation; fibre optic sensors; intelligent sensors; meteoroids; space debris; Bragg gratings

Other keywords: small orbital debris; fibre Bragg grating sensors; satellite components; spacecraft; shock propagation speed measurement; micrometeoroids

Subjects: Aerospace instrumentation; Gratings, echelles; Aerospace instrumentation and equipment; Intelligent sensors; Fibre optic sensors; fibre gyros; Fibre optic sensors; Measurement of mechanical variables; Mechanical variables measurement; Meteors, showers and meteoroids; Fibre optics