Which debris category is characterized by high quantity but is generally not cataloged?
Answer
Particles less than 1 cm in size
The smallest class of orbital contaminants consists of fragments measuring less than one centimeter. Due to the sheer volume of these particles and the extreme difficulty in precisely tracking such minute objects, they are typically not included in official catalogs. Although these tiny fragments are unlikely to cause the total functional failure of a spacecraft, they constantly bombard surfaces, leading to gradual issues like surface erosion and long-term degradation of external components over the duration of a mission.
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