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Fragment Cloud Evolution in Medium Earth Orbit

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Abstract

There are destabilizing resonances in medium Earth orbit due to third body effects from the Sun and Moon. Objects in the region suffer a growth of eccentricity dependent on their initial conditions. This study focuses on how debris objects from a fragmentation event would interact with the chaotic dynamics of the area. The debris clouds are studied for their interactions with nearby orbits, their eccentricity growth, and how varying initial conditions of an event will change each cloud’s evolution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, 429 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Marielle Pellegrino & Daniel Scheeres

  2. The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., 555 Technology Square, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Marielle Pellegrino & Brett Streetman

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  1. Marielle Pellegrino
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  2. Daniel Scheeres
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Correspondence to Marielle Pellegrino.

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This article belongs to the Topical Collection: Advanced Maui Optical and Space Surveillance Technologies (AMOS 2021).

Guest Editors: Lauchie Scott, Ryan Coder, Paul Kervin, Bobby Hunt.

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Pellegrino, M., Scheeres, D. & Streetman, B. Fragment Cloud Evolution in Medium Earth Orbit. J Astronaut Sci 69, 1766–1796 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40295-022-00362-8

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