J. Zhang et D. Rex, THE DISTRIBUTION OF DEBRIS IMPACTS OVER SATELLITE SURFACES WITH SPECIAL REGARD TO THE LONG-DURATION EXPOSURE FACILITY LDEF, Zeitschrift fur Flugwissenschaften und Weltraumforschung, 17(3), 1993, pp. 170-180
Examination of surfaces recovered from space indicates a high flux of
small particles of natural as well as of manmade origins. In this pape
r, a model of small orbital debris particles is presented, and impact
distributions resulting from this model are derived and discussed. In
order to understand the observed impacts on LDEF, general relationship
s between particle orbits and crater distributions over the LDEF surfa
ces are analysed. After comparison of modeling results with observatio
nal data, a modification of the debris model is proposed which fits th
e measurement favorably.