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Revisiting LDEF: high resolution elemental and
isotopic characterization of hypervelocity impacts.
Stadermann F. J., Floss C., Brownlee D. E.,
and Rodruck M. (2009)
Lunar & Planet. Sci. 40, Abstract #2120.
ABSTRACT
The Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) satellite was flown
in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for a duration of 69 months from 1984 through
1990. Its main mission was to study the effects of the space
environment on a variety of exposed surfaces, but it also carried
experiments dedicated to the capture of impacting particles, which
included not only cosmic dust, but also a significant fraction of
manmade orbital debris. The LDEF satellite was gravitygradient
stabilized in orbit, resulting in different surfaces facing the same
directions (e.g., leading and trailing edge, space and earth ends)
during the entire time in space. This configuration made it possible to
study separate regimes of particle bombardment on different sides of
the satellite, with, e.g., fewer impacts by man-made debris on the
trailing edge. Samples from LDEF were extensively studied during the
early 1990s with a wide array of analytical tools available at the time.
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