Hypervelocity Code to Design Light Gas Guns to Achieve 10km/s+

Create a validated three stage light gas gun (3SLGG) code, running over 400 iterations providing the optimal geometries to enable the design, build and safe implementation of a 3SLGG at the White Sands Test Facility Remote Hypervelocity Test Laboratory.

With over 100,000,000 particles smaller than 1 cm in low earth orbit, it is critical that shielding will adequately protect from impacts of this size. A 3SLGG is a validated method to accelerate small particles up to 10 km/s. Enabling WSTF to simulate the average LEO velocity of 10 km/s will provide the means to validate ballistic limit equations used to design protective shields. The first phase was accomplished using the 3SLGG code, which provided the optimal beginning geometric and pressure parameters. The next phase will include fabrication of the components, development of procedures, safety/design reviews and build up of the launcher system.

The ability to cost effectively impact candidate shielding with particles at the velocities that currently exist in the low earth orbit environment will improve the science of protecting these systems.  Improvements in shielding will benefit the design of shielding systems by reducing the risk of hypervelocity impact impingement in the space environment.

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