MAE GRADUATE SEMINAR SERIES

1
MAE GRADUATE SEMINAR SERIES 330 p.m. 430
p.m. September 22, 2011 Carver/Turner Havener
Center
Heavens! What a Mess!
Dr. William P. Schonberg, P.E. Professor and
Chair Civil, Architectural, and Environmental
Engineering Department Missouri University of
Science and Technology Rolla, MO

• Abstract
• All spacecraft that operate in low-earth-orbit
  (such as telecommunications satellites and the
  ISS) are subject to high-speed impacts by space
  junk, which is also called space debris or
  orbital debris. The threat of damage from
  high-speed orbital debris particle impacts has
  become a significant design consideration in the
  development and construction of long duration
  earth-orbiting spacecraft. Even a marble-size
  piece of space debris can inflict considerable
  damage to or even destroy an orbiting operational
  spacecraft or satellite. Considerable resources
  have been expended by NASA, the Air Force, and
  their contractors to design and build spacecraft
  that can survive in the hostile space environment
  and which can be protected from damage by pieces
  of space junk. During this presentation a variety
  of topics related to space debris will be
  reviewed, including
• Where does space debris come from?
• How much space junk is really out there?
• What happens when a spacecraft is hit by a piece
  of space junk?
• How can we protect a spacecraft against damage by
  space debris impacts?
• Is there any way to clean up the near earth
  region of space?
• Will the situation improve or worsen in the
  future?
• __________________________________________________
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• Dr. Schonberg has over 25 years teaching and
  research experience in the areas of shock
  physics, spacecraft protection, hypervelocity
  impact, and penetration mechanics. He received
  his BSCE from Princeton University in 1981, and
  his MS and PhD degrees from Northwestern
  University in 1983 and 1986, respectively. The
  results of his research have been applied to a
  wide variety of engineering problems, including
  the development of orbital debris protection
  systems for spacecraft in low earth orbit,
  kinetic energy weapons, the collapse of buildings
  under explosive loads, insensitive munitions, and
  aging aircraft. He is a Fellow of ASCE and ASME,
  and an Associate Fellow of the AIAA. In 2007 Dr.
  Schonberg received a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel
  Research Award from the Humboldt Foundation in
  Germany. This award enabled him to spend 7 months
  at the Fraunhofer Ernst Mach Institute in
  Freiburg, Germany working on advanced MMOD
  protection systems for satellites and developing
  preliminary designs for safe lunar habitats using
  in-situ materials for protection against
  meteoroid impacts. In recent years, Dr. Schonberg
  has served on several NESC and NAE/NRC committees
  charged with reviewing a variety of key technical
  issues related to NASAs space exploration
  programs.

Department of Mechanical Aerospace Engineering
This seminar is co-sponsored by the Academy of
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineers .