Countless spacecraft fragments and manmade satellites litter our uppermost layers of atmosphere, posing a threat to the safety and success of future space missions, both human and robotic. The effects of OD should not be overlooked. Even an object as small as a few millimeters can pose mission termination risk.

Learn more about the OD Program and what NASA does to limit OD by taking the new SATERN course: “Orbital Debris.” The 3-hour course provides an overview of the NASA OD Program and the need for OD mitigation. It describes the work of the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) and explains NASA’s process and requirements for limiting orbital debris. It also summarizes current U.S. Space Policy and standard U.S. Government OD mitigation practices.

The course was created for chief Safety and Mission Assurance officers, systems safety engineers and managers, and reliability engineers and managers.

The course can be found in SATERN under “Orbital Debris” or SMA-HQ-WBT-200 (NASA only).