Douglas R McCarter
McCarter Machine Inc., USA
Title: The preeminent material for space optics and structures-single crystal silicon
Biography
Biography: Douglas R McCarter
Abstract
Space Debris Mitigation is a unique problem requiring a unique solution. Space debris includes all types of potentially harmful objects, both seen and unseen, such as man-made idle satellites, abandoned tools, gas cylinders and satellite parts from ruptured and/or impacted satellites. Most alarming is the growing number of close calls with Cosmic-made asteroids and comets. Th e current materials used in Space Optics continually misses seeing asteroids and ground optics see most of them-After they have passed the earth. In addition, present day technology cannot deter any space debris that doesn’t burn up during atmospheric reentry, regardless of the source.
Large asteroids, called planetoids, are being seen and tracked, yet there is no proven option to deter from one or more causing global damage. Medium asteroids, called asteroids and small asteroids are called meteoroids, which can be city killers, are mostly never detected until they hit. Th is size asteroid has a signature that is too dim to detect or the surrounding planets are too bright and drown out any sign of the asteroid. Since the year 2000, over 28 Kiloton meteoroids, called meteorites after entering our atmosphere, have hit the earth. Th e near miss of the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013 caused millions of dollars of damage and over 1200 physical injuries. Th is debris event caused mankind to begin asking” Why can we not see these objects and if we can see them, what can we do except evacuate?”
Th is class will show why asteroid detection is diffi cult and how to overcome these obstacles. Aft er two decades of prototyping and third- party testing, including MDA SBIR’s, McCarter has created a RL-6 silicon technology solution to build a Silicon Solar System, S3, that will perform both as a detector of space debris and as a direct deterrence of damage caused by this debris. This system will not only see dark cold objects but also ultimately control their fate.
Th e S3, will Seek-Track-Lase most space debris, operating as a squadron of individual satellites. Th e immediate mission will be to laser cut space trash, including dead satellites, to a safe size, then laser pulse it to slow and allow it to fall out of orbit. Lessons learned from clearing satellite orbits of trash will teach many valuable lessons such as proper positioning, power rate adjustments, responses of cut off pieces and guiding of trash to designated locations. To control micrometeorites, dust and/or paint fl ecks, it will be necessary to make a laser scanner screen. While taking out the trash doesn’t seem to be an attractive or rewarding eff ort, we will show that only aft er this proof of concept will we have the confi dence and experience needed to combat
the incoming asteroids referred to in McCarter’s SPIE paper as Space Invaders.