Damage Analysis for Hypervelocity Impact Experiments on Spaceship Windows Glass

Abstract. The hypervelocity impact characteristics in fused silica glass, which is used for the outermost pane of the windshield as the critical part of the thermal protection system of spacecraft, were studied by 37 impact experiments with different millimeter diameter projectiles up to the velocity of 7 km/s launched by two stage light-gas-gun facility. The empirical damage equations were obtained from experiment data by the least square method and they were compared with NASA damage equations.