Saturday, October 18, 2025

Does the space station get struck by meteors?


The ISS is shielded, just like most satellites and spacecrafts. Impact of a meteor is quite unlikely - they are very sparse even during a shower. The concern is micrometeoroids, and yes, there are lots of them during meteor showers.

Shields can resist hypervelocity impacts of particles up to a certain size (nearly a millimeter). These are called MMOD shield (Micro Meteoroid and Orbital Debris). It works because it has two layers. The first layer is penetrated and broken, it doesn't stop the particle but it breaks it. Actually the particle even vaporizes because of the heat released during the impact. The fragments expand and impact the second layer over a much larger area, so it's much easier to resist.

NASA podcast about orbital debris:

Larger debris objects are tracked by NASA so they can receive a warning and perform a collision avoidance maneuver. But meteors aren't as predictable as debris, so there's nothing they can do. Still, debris objects of intermediate sizes are not traceable and shields would not resist, so it's a matter of probabilities. I don't see any reason for not accepting the same probability with meteors.
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It comes down to "pray it doesn't get hit and have a large electrostatic discharge that shorts out other equipment."

The ISS and other satellites can't give themselves enough thrust to move arbitrarily around the planet so as to shield themselves.

Fortunately, the chances of there being an impact are very low, and this particular meteor shower is slower than most others so the risk of electrostatic discharge on impact is lower than normal.

The biggest hazard to satellites during a meteor shower is electrostatic discharge associated with meteor impacts.

When a meteor hits a satellite at high speed, the tiny rock vaporizes into hot, electrically charged gas-or plasma-that can short out circuits and damage onboard electronics, causing the satellite to spin out of control.

Experts are banking on the idea that the electrostatic risks will be lower with the Draconids, since these meteors travel at less than half the speed of other showers and so shouldn't turn to plasma on impact.

"However, other than avoiding spacewalks, there isn't much the space station can do to avoid such hazards, aside from hoping the damage is minimal."


Gemini AI answer: 

Yes, the ISS is regularly hit by small meteoroids and space debris, but it is designed to withstand these impacts and has systems to maneuver to avoid larger objects. While it has been hit many times, the damage has been minor and not dangerous to the crew. 
Impacts from meteoroids and debris
The ISS is a large target, and small objects like microscopic meteoroids and pieces of human-made debris hit it frequently.
Impacts from objects smaller than a paint chip or a few millimeters in size are common and are often visible as small dents on the station's hull.
Space debris is a bigger concern than meteoroids, and the ISS has had to maneuver to avoid larger pieces of debris in orbit. 
Protection and evasion
The ISS has multiple layers of protection, including shielding designed to withstand impacts from small debris.
Ground-based radar tracks objects in orbit and predicts potential collisions.
If a potentially dangerous object is detected, the ISS can use its thrusters to adjust its orbit and avoid a collision.
For planned spacewalks, a meteoroid forecast is issued to ensure there is no heightened risk of an accident. 

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