SPACE-PLATFORM IMPACT PROBABILITIES - THE THREAT OF THE LEONIDS

Comet P/Tempel-Tuttle passes perihelion on 28 February 1998 and it is highly likely that in the time interval from 1997 to 2000 the Earth wi ll witness at least one meteor storm from the associated Leonid meteor oid stream. The very high meteoroid flux, and the concomitant rise in the space-platform-meteoroid impact probability that could result from a Leonid meteor storm, poses a tangible threat to all Earth-orbiting space platforms.