Re: report: ISS minor debris strike

"Keith F. Lynch" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in 
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]:

> Henry Spencer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> Historically, the anxiety has been about objects in the 1-10 cm
>> range: tracking becomes very unreliable below about 10 cm, and about
>> 1 cm is the upper limit of the station's debris shielding.
> 
> A half-centimeter block of steel (e.g. a loose bolt) coming in at
> a relative speed of several miles per second will cause no serious
> damage?

Right, it won't, provided it hits the US segment. The Whipple shield on the 
US segment is rated for 1 cm hypervelocity impacts.

-- 
JRF

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