NASA and SpaceX Study Ways to Mitigate Dragon Debris

Washington – NASA and SpaceX are studying how to modify the process of re-entering the Dragon spacecraft into the Earth’s atmosphere with the aim of reducing the amount of debris from the back of the spacecraft that reaches Earth.

On several occasions, debris from the Dragon spacecraft’s trunk sections, which had been jettisoned from the capsule before the capsule performed an deorbital burn, was found on Earth. They include debris from the Crew-1 Crew Dragon, which was found in Australia in 2022; the Ax-3 Crew Dragon, which went down in Saskatchewan in February; and the Crew-7 torso, fragments of which were found in May in North Carolina.

In August 2022, shortly after Crew-1 debris was found in Australia, a SpaceX official downplayed the incident as an isolated case. “All of this was within the projected space that was analyzed of what could happen,” Benji Reed, SpaceX’s senior director of human spaceflight programs, said at a NASA news conference. “However, just as we do for launches and any return, we are looking closely at the data, learning everything we can and always looking for ways we can make things better.”

After recently spotting the debris, NASA and SpaceX now acknowledge that improvements are needed. The agency recently stated that initial studies predicted that the torso would burn up completely upon reentry. “NASA and SpaceX will continue to explore additional solutions as we learn from the detected debris,” NASA stated.

“We did an analysis before Demo-2 and it’s clear that the models don’t handle the box very well,” Steve Stich, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, said in an interview after the Starliner briefing ahead of that mission’s June 6 launch. He said that’s likely due to the composite materials used in the box. “It’s almost like a thermal protection system.”

He said that the solution being considered by NASA and SpaceX includes changing the procedures for removing the capsule from orbit. Currently, the trunk is released before the capsule burns into orbit. This means that the trunk could remain in orbit for several months before re-entering uncontrollably.

Instead, Stitch said, engineers are considering performing an orbital burn and then releasing the trunk. That would provide more control over where the trunk re-enters, ensuring that any debris that survives re-entry lands in unpopulated areas.

“We are in the process of doing this work now,” he said. “I would love to have something next year if we can, but we have to do all the right analysis. We have to make sure it’s safe for the crew.

Challenges with this alternative approach include using additional fuel to burn the box during deorbit while the box is still attached and then figuring out the best way to separate the box after the burn. Engineers are looking at two ways to do this that would move the box away from the capsule upon reentry, so any debris would land in the ocean, Stich said.

Concerns have been raised about the risk of falling debris not only from Dragon’s trunks but also from a piece of the International Space Station’s battery rack that re-entered Earth’s atmosphere uncontrolled on March 8. A piece of that rack, weighing about three-quarters of a kilogram, survived re-entry and struck a home in Naples, Florida. The debris fell through the roof of the home but caused no injuries.

On June 21, the law firm Cranfill Sumner LLP announced that it had filed suit with NASA seeking an estimated $80,000 for damages caused by the debris. This request, which some media outlets mistakenly reported as a lawsuit, is instead a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which gives NASA six months to respond to the claim.

Micah Nguyen Worthy, the attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the family whose home was damaged, noted that under a space treaty known as the Liability Convention, the United States would be “strictly liable” for damage if debris struck another country. But that same strict liability doesn’t apply here because the damage occurred in the United States.

“Here, the US government, through NASA, has an opportunity to set standards or ‘create precedent’ regarding what responsible, safe, and sustainable space operations should look like,” she said in the statement. “Paying the claim would send a strong signal to both other governments and private industries that such victims should receive compensation regardless of fault,” she concluded.

Others see opportunity in falling debris. The wreckage of the Crew-7 plane’s trunk fell on a luxury camping site called The Glamping Collective, which displayed its photos. “We invite you to experience it for yourself!” This was stated on its website.noting that the wreckage will be on display at the start of the hiking trail.

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