Computer Graphics for Space Debris

The number of resident space objects re-entering the atmosphere is expected to rise with increased space activity over recent years and future projections. Predicting the probable survival and impact location of the medium to large sized re-entering objects becomes important as they can cause onground casualties and damage to property. Uncertainties associated with the re-entry makes necessary an expensive probabilistic approach. We present development and application of a new tool for quick estimation of aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics properties of the re-entering objects required for a probabilistic analysis. The novel method uses primitive geometries to develop a complex object and voxelization (voxels are the 3D equivalent of pixels in 2D images) for computing the shading/visibility factors to quickly estimate the aerodynamic and aerothermodynamics properties of the re-entering object. The tool can be used as a module of object oriented codes to support preliminary End of Life analyses.