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Space Debris Issue at the United Nations a
Author(s) -
LÁLA PETR
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1997.tb48373.x
Subject(s) - space debris , session (web analytics) , space (punctuation) , spacecraft , debris , outer space , space exploration , space environment , subject (documents) , committee on space research , aeronautics , political science , aerospace engineering , operations research , engineering , computer science , geography , meteorology , geology , library science , astrobiology , physics , geophysics , world wide web , operating system
The space debris issue has been discussed by the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) for many years. In recognition of its importance, at the 1994 session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of COPUOS, it became a separate agenda item. The Committee agreed that international cooperation is needed to evolve appropriate and affordable strategies to minimize the potential impact of space debris on future space missions. This paper summarizes discussions held during the last two sessions of the Subcommittee, including inter alia space debris measurement techniques, mathematical modelling of the debris environment, characterizing the space debris environment, and spacecraft design measures to protect against space debris. The focus of the 1995 session was on the subject of acquisition and understanding of data on the characteristics of the space debris environment, which is closely related to the observations of NEO.