Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently developed a new laser polarization detection technology that not only determines the location of space debris but also analyzes its composition.
In orbit to Earth's space, hundreds of millions of space junk spins at high speeds, posing a huge threat to spacecraft and satellites. Currently, NASA and the Department of Defense track 17,000 pieces with land-based telescopes and laser radar, but the system only determines the location of the target. The researchers pointed out that the new technology can analyze the composition of a wreck, helping to determine its quality, momentum and possible destructive power.
The technology uses lasers to detect the effect of light on the material. Michael Pascolor of MIT Aerospace said that the reflective polarization mode of paint differs significantly from that of metallic aluminum, so identifying the polarization characteristics is a reliable way of identifying the space debris.
To test this theory, the researchers designed a polarimeter to detect the angle of the reflected light at a laser wavelength of 1064 nm, similar to Ladars' laser and selected materials commonly used in six satellites: white, black, aluminum And titanium, as well as two membrane materials, polyimide and Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene) that protect the satellites. Polarization filters and silicon detectors are used to detect the polarization of their reflected light. They identified 16 major polarization states and mapped these state features to different materials. The polarization characteristics of each material are unique enough to distinguish it from the other five.
Pascor believes that other aerospace materials such as protective films, composite antennas, solar cells, circuit boards, etc., the polarization effects may also have their own characteristics. He hoped to use a laser polarimeter to build a database of polarization characteristics of various materials. By loading the existing ground-based Ladars with filters, the polarization state of the space debris could be directly detected and compared with the data from the signature database to determine the composition of the debris.
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