Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) of Space Structures

Abstract

Abstract. Recent years have seen an increased interest in exploring outer space for space tourism or for unmanned or manned planetary explorations. The captivated interests among various stakeholders to employ advanced technologies to meet the requirements of these missions have necessitated the use of newly developed asset monitoring systems to ensure robustness and mission reliability. Although, Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) methods provide sufficient information about the state of the structure at the time of inspection, the need for continuously monitoring the health of the structure throughout the mission has asserted the use of Structure Health Monitoring (SHM) technologies to increase the levels of safety and thereby, reducing the overall mission costs. However, since the implementation of SHM technologies for space missions can be affected by several factors including, environmental conditions, measurement reliability and unavailability of adequate standards, additional considerations on its employability must be reconsidered. This article demonstrates a structured approach to compare the capabilities of some of the most promising SHM technologies in consideration of these influential factors. Additionally, remarks on the feasibility of employing these SHM technologies and the role they could play in such critical missions would be elaborated.