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Stardust project
Project typeResearch and training program
Funding agencyFP7 Marie Curie Initial Training Networks (ITN) scheme
Framework programmeSeventh Framework Programme
ObjectiveWays of removing space debris (such as fragments of defunct satellites which risk damaging functioning satellites if they collide with them), and ways to deflect asteroids which could have devastating consequences if they crash into the Earth
LocationEurope
PartnersTen full partners and four associated partner institutions
DurationFebruary 2013 – Early 2017
WebsiteStardust project homepage
This article is about the EU's research into protection from space débris and asteroids. For other uses, see Stardust (disambiguation).
For the project concerning space dust, see Stardust@home.

Stardust, which began in February 2013, was a four-year research and training program looking into ways of removing space debris (such as fragments of defunct satellites which risk damaging functioning satellites if they collide with them), and ways to deflect asteroids which could have devastating consequences if they crash into the Earth. [1][2][3][4]

Stardust was a European programme funded by the FP7 Marie Curie Initial Training Networks (ITN) scheme.[5] The network is composed of ten full partners and four associated partner institutions across seven European countries.[5] There were five universities – University of Strathclyde (UK), University of Southampton (UK), Technical University of Madrid (Spain), University of Rome Tor Vergata (Italy), University of Pisa (Italy), and the Astronomical Observatory Belgrade (Serbia), four research centres – German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Italiano (CNR), French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the European Space Agency (ESA), and four companies – Deimos Space (Spain), Dinamica (Italy), Astrium Ltd (UK) and Telespazio S.p.A. (Italy). A further 11 early career researchers and 4 post-doctorate researchers were hired and received specialised training .

The Stardust Final Conference on Asteroids and Space Debris was held at the end of October 2016 at the European Space Agency premises.[6]

Stardust completed its four-year remit of research and development activities in early 2017. During that period, the network was awarded the Sir Arthur Clarke award for space research in 2015,[7] was featured at the IAC2016 in Guadalajara, and is supporting the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group of the United Nations on matters related to planetary defense.

Beyond its influential role in the community, Stardust produced many important results: [8]

  • Stardust unlocked the secrets of chaos and resonances in Earth orbit mapping regions of the space around the Earth where motion is chaotic and can lead to a fast decay of the orbit. These key results were instrumental to define passive debris deorbiting strategies and ‘deorbiting highways’ that accelerate the orbit decay.
  • Stardust developed new fast approaches for preliminary orbit determination of asteroids and space debris that will allow the treatment of large databases and the determination of the orbits of objects starting from sparse measurements.
  • Stardust introduced new techniques for the detumbling of space debris and asteroids using Eddy currents or laser ablation. It demonstrated the effectiveness of these technologies and their applicability to real mission scenarios.
  • Stardust produced substantial advancements on the use of laser ablation for debris removal and asteroid manipulation and exploitation. It demonstrated, theoretically and experimentally, that this technique offers an effective and versatile solution, in many cases superior to most slow-push deflection methods.
  • Stardust introduced new asteroid deflection concepts, like the Nuclear Cycler that allows for a more controllable deflection using a series of nuclear explosions, and delivered new insights in the applicability of other known deflection methods like the kinetic impactor and the gravity tractor.
  • Stardust introduced the quantification of uncertainty in the study of the (re-)entry and demise of space debris and asteroids, and developed new fast and open source tools and methods to estimate the risk of an impact on ground. All these new advancements contributed to the development of an open source tool called FOSTRAD,[9] freely available on request.
  • Stardust developed new tools to allow decision makers to make informed decisions on the potential consequences of an impact with an asteroid. The software ARMOR was developed to quantify the total risk and damage on Earth.

References

  1. ^ "Researchers at Strathclyde University will investigate hazardous asteroids and space debris in an attempt to protect our planet".
  2. ^ "Strathclyde to lead the EU's 'Stardust' space debris project".
  3. ^ "Scientists are already working on defensive technologies".
  4. ^ "SCIENTISTS are to launch a multi-million-pound project aimed at finding ways of stopping an asteroid impact from destroying the planet".
  5. ^ a b "Stardust, CORDIS web page".
  6. ^ "Stardust Final Conference".
  7. ^ "Winners of the Sir Arthur Clarke Awards 2015".
  8. ^ "Space junk apocalypse: just like Gravity?".
  9. ^ "FOSTRAD paper".
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