Old, but pertinent.
Earth Orbiting Satellites Brace for Leonid Meteor Shower
By Jim Banke
Senior Producer, Cape Canveral Bureau
posted: 07:00 am ET
07 November 2001
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Satellite operators will keep a close eye on their Earth-orbiting spacecraft during the upcoming Leonid meteor shower, and though the risk of damage from a stray speck of dust is greater than normal, officials are confident there will be no natural disasters in space.
Nevertheless, if a Leonid meteoroid hits a satellite, the small grain can destroy an imaging mirror or plow through fragile parts such as an electricity-generating solar panel, possibly creating electrical shorts that can disable the craft. Just the momentum imparted by an impact can throw a satellite off course.
Especially sensitive at this time -- but not necessarily vulnerable -- are the nation's reconnaissance, communications, navigation and weather forecasting satellites, which are playing a key role in the United States' efforts to combat terrorism in Afghanistan, and around the globe.
Not to worry, officials say.
"Satellites are designed with information about past storms and other things that can happen in space," said Capt. Adriane Craig, a spokesperson for the U.S. Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs, Colo.
"Our satellites are robust and in the event that there is a problem we have backup systems and contingency plans to help get them back online."
Air Force controllers at Peterson are responsible for monitoring the various constellations of military satellite systems around the clock, Craig said, but she wouldn't say exactly what additional measures -- if any -- are being taken to minimize the threat from the Leonids.
"For the Leonids we have models that help us predict when the storm will peak, so certainly (the satellite operators) can be more attentive during that time, but we monitor the spacecraft pretty vigilantly every day of the year," she said, politely refusing to elaborate. "I will not reveal anything operationally about any actions we might or might not take."
The story is the same at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which is responsible for operating the many clandestine spy satellites responsible for so much of the nation's space-based intelligence gathering efforts.
"We're working closely with the Air Force to fully understand the implications of the Leonid storm, and we'll take precautions that we feel are appropriate," said Art Haubold, a spokesman for the National Reconnaissance Office. "However, we don't discuss operational details of our satellites."
It's possible that in some cases a satellite may be turned off as the best defense against being struck by a Leonid meteoroid. However, industry observers and others agree that military and NRO spacecraft are constructed with extra shielding and back up systems inside the spacecraft itself, allowing continuing operation no matter what.
"Military satellites are much more hardened and much more capable of surviving such things than normal satellites," said Bill Cooke, a meteor forecaster at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
So to, Cooke said, is the International Space Station, where the current Expedition Three crew of Frank Culbertson, Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Turin are wrapping up a four-month stay in space. Shuttle Endeavour is to be launched Nov. 29 -- long after the Leonid's peak -- to bring up a new crew and then return to Earth on Dec. 10.
"The space station has armor to protect it against stuff as much as an inch across," Cooke said. "We're not expecting anything that big from this year's Leonids."
Remnants from the icy comet Tempel-Tuttle, the Leonid meteor shower will result when planet Earth sweeps through the comet's trail of debris next week and the tiny particles encounter our atmosphere and burn up, sparking what are commonly called shooting stars.
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