Monitoring effortsNASA's assessment of meteoroid risksNASA and its partners conduct regular risk assessments of the micrometeoroid environment before and during a mission.
However, only severe events are considered a major concern.
"Only a handful of the more than 1,000 known meteor showers exceed the sporadic background by more than 5% — like the Geminids, for example — [which is] the strongest annual shower," explained NASA Meteoroid Environments Office lead Bill Cooke, in an email to Space.com.
The real mission disruptors are meteor storms and outbursts that dramatically increase interplanetary debris in Earth's orbit.
Monitoring efforts
NASA's assessment of meteoroid risks
NASA and its partners conduct regular risk assessments of the micrometeoroid environment before and during a mission. However, only severe events are considered a major concern. "Only a handful of the more than 1,000 known meteor showers exceed the sporadic background by more than 5% — like the Geminids, for example — [which is] the strongest annual shower," explained NASA Meteoroid Environments Office lead Bill Cooke, in an email to Space.com. The real mission disruptors are meteor storms and outbursts that dramatically increase interplanetary debris in Earth's orbit.
