Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM 

Monday, May 17, 1999 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium 

Nicholas L. Johnson

ABSTRACT --  The nearly 4,000 space missions conducted world-wide since Sputnik-I have left a legacy of millions of man-made objects in Earth orbit.  With only about 600 operational satellites, the remaining population of derelict spacecraft, upper stages, mission-related debris, and fragmentation debris presents a challenge to the safety of both manned and robotic space flights.  NASA, other U.S. Government agencies, and foreign space agencies now recognize the growth of the orbital debris population to be a broad environmental issue demanding attention now, even though serious operational hazards are many years away for most orbital regimes.  All new NASA programs must consider orbital debris mitigation issues from project inception to spacecraft disposal.  The sources of orbital debris and remote and in situ techniques for monitoring the environment will be discussed as well as design and flight experiences of the Space Shuttle, Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope, and other programs. 

SPEAKER:   Nicholas Johnson is the Orbital Debris Program Manager and Chief Scientist for Orbital Debris at the NASA Johnson Space Center and is responsible for conceiving, conducting, and directing research to define the orbital debris environment, for determining operational techniques for spacecraft to protect themselves from the environment, and for recommending techniques to minimize the growth in the future orbital debris environment.  Prior to joining NASA in 1996, he spent 17 years supporting various U.S. Government agencies, including NASA, DoD, and DOT, in matters of space surveillance, space defense, and orbital debris and has served in uniform with both the U.S. Air Force and the U. S. Navy.  He is the author of numerous books and more than 200 papers on orbital debris and foreign space programs.