#NASA 📆 April 2020 #Micrometeoroids and #SpaceDebris will strike an #orbiting Station throughout its lifetime, as is evident on the #ISS, where several #solar arrays show #damage caused by micrometeoroids. The #hope is that the #meteoroids will not hit any #critical areas and cause #emergency #evacuation of the structure. Damage from meteoroids may include damage to #habitation 💤 modules.
#Welding is one of the best ways to create hermetic seals. The ability to #weld these structures without waiting for new equipment may limit the #risks to #astronauts in the event of damage.This ability for rapid #repair may also become more significant as orbiting Stations such as #Gateway move further from #Earth and the associated #cost of shipping parts increases. It is important to #develop these technologies now.

#NASA has recently funded work on #development of #spacewelding 🎇 capabilities https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20200002259/downloads/20200002259.pdf

#HumanSpaceflightSecurity #SpaceMaintenance #SpaceAgency

@mzedp @bennyG but this is about #micrometeoroids, check #AsteroidThreat (in contrast to "selfmade" dangers)

#NASA 📆 April 2020 #Micrometeoroids and #spacedebris will strike an #orbiting Station throughout its
lifetime, as is evident on the #ISS, where several #solar arrays show #damage caused by micrometeoroids. The #hope is that the #meteoroids will not hit any #critical areas and cause #emergency #evacuation of the structure. Damage from meteoroids may include damage to #habitation 💤 modules.
#Welding is one of the best ways to create hermetic seals. The ability to #weld these structures without waiting for new equipment may limit the #risks to #astronauts in the event of damage.
This ability for rapid #repair may also become more significant as orbiting Stations such as #Gateway move further from #Earth and the associated #cost of shipping parts increases. It is important to #develop these technologies now so that they will be ready for future exploration missions.
#NASA has recently funded work on #development of #spacewelding 🎇 capabilities https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20200002259/downloads/20200002259.pdf

The sky observing sequences of the James #Webb Space #Telescope will soon be modified so that head-on collisions with #micrometeoroids are minimized: https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/11/15/nasa-webb-micrometeoroid-mitigation-update/ - this "will have a long-term statistical benefit" for the health of the main mirror.

The sky observing sequences of the James #Webb Space #Telescope will soon be modified so that head-on collisions with #micrometeoroids are minimized: https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/11/15/nasa-webb-micrometeoroid-mitigation-update/ - this "will have a long-term statistical benefit."