MEO: Environments

Meteoroids are natural particles that continually enter space from a variety of sources within the Solar System – comets, asteroids, and planets. Particles of sizes greater than 100 µm (1 µg) can do considerable damage to thermal protection systems, radiators, windows, and pressurized containers. Secondary effects might include partial penetration or pitting, local deformation and surface degradation that can cause a failure upon re-entry. The speed, mass, density, and directionality of these small particles are important factors for design considerations and mitigation during operations.

The Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) concerns itself with three main meteoroid environments: the sporadic environment, the shower environment, and the lunar environment.

Overview

Sporadic Environment
The sporadic meteoroid environment consists of a diffuse background of meteoroids of cometary and asteroidal origin.

Shower Environment
The Earth, and spacecraft near it, encounters quasi-periodic meteoritic enhancements caused by streams of material ejected from mainly short period comets that pass near the Earth’s orbit.

Lunar Environment
The US Space Exploration Policy calls for extended astronaut stays on the lunar surface.