GREEN ARMOR FOR SPACE: TESTING SUSTAINABLE WHIPPLE SHIELDS AGAINST SPACE DEBRIS

Grade:

8

Teacher:

ROLANDO BAYARCAL

This project designs and tests sustainable Whipple shields to protect spacecraft from micrometeoroids and space junk. Four shield designs were built using different layer orders of tissue, biodegradable plastic, foil, and cardboard, with all pieces the same size. A metal ball was dropped from 200 cm onto each shield five times, and the number of layers penetrated was recorded and graphed. The results showed that the shield with plastic–tissue–foil–cardboard stopped the ball the best, while the tissue–plastic–foil–cardboard design performed the worst. This study shows how applied technology and recycled materials can be used together to engineer safer, more eco-friendly protection for future spacecraft.

Project presentation

Research paper