AAS 96-203

POST DEPLOYMENT RECONTACT ISSUES FOR THE SEDS/SEDSAT MISSION

S. W. Evans, Marshall Space Flight Center

Abstract

The Students for the Exploration and Development of Space Satellite (SEDSAT) will fly on a Space Shuttle in July 1997. SEDSAT will transfer to its target orbit from the Shuttle orbit by means of a tether, using the Small Expendable Deployer System (SEDS). This paper examines the safety issue of whether the SEDS tether will recontact the Shuttle following deployment. For a nominal deployment no recontacts occur. Recontacts can occur if a clip by debris takes place in the lower 6 km of the tether during the first 4 minutes after the first planned tether cut.