NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is the lead NASA center for orbital debris research and is recognized worldwide for its leadership in addressing orbital debris issues. After 45 years of space exploration, near-Earth space is littered with millions of man-made objects, ranging in size from a fraction of a millimeter to many meters in length. Consisting of derelict spacecraft and launch vehicle upper stages, mission-related debris, and fragmentation debris, orbital debris now presents a hazard to space operations. NASA and other U.S. Government agencies, as well as the international aerospace community, recognize that curtailing the growth of the orbital debris population is of vital interest to future human space flight and robotic operations.

The orbital debris research program in ARES is divided into four major categories:

• Measuring the environment using a variety of radar and optical sensors and by inspecting the surface of returned spacecraft.
• Modeling the current orbital debris population and projecting its evolution in the decades to come.
• Protecting space vehicles from high-speed debris impacts with specially designed shields and by collision avoidance procedures.
• Developing mitigation measures and practices, which will curtail the growth of the orbital debris environment.
  

Space Debris Research Group