{"dataset":{"slug":"space-hazards","title":"Space Hazards","description":"Physical hazards to spacecraft — orbital debris, micrometeoroids, charging, and atomic oxygen.","version":"1.0.0","lastGenerated":"2026-06-29","license":"CC BY-SA 4.0","entityCount":5,"sources":["nasa","esa"]},"entities":[{"id":"space_hazard:atomic-oxygen","name":"Atomic Oxygen","type":"space_hazard","domain":"science","description":"Single oxygen atoms that dominate the thin atmosphere of low Earth orbit. Highly reactive, atomic oxygen slowly erodes exposed spacecraft materials, a design concern for anything operating for long periods in LEO.","entryPath":"/space-environment/atomic-oxygen"},{"id":"space_hazard:micrometeoroids","name":"Micrometeoroids","type":"space_hazard","domain":"science","description":"Tiny natural particles — grains of comet and asteroid dust — moving at tens of kilometres per second. They erode surfaces and can puncture spacecraft; together with orbital debris they define the impact hazard for spacecraft.","entryPath":"/space-environment/micrometeoroids"},{"id":"space_hazard:orbital-debris","name":"Orbital Debris","type":"space_hazard","domain":"science","description":"Defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, and fragments left in Earth orbit. Travelling at kilometres per second, even a small piece can destroy a working spacecraft, and collisions create more debris — a growing hazard in low Earth orbit.","entryPath":"/space-environment/orbital-debris"},{"id":"space_hazard:plasma-environment","name":"Plasma Environment","type":"space_hazard","domain":"science","description":"The ionised gas that pervades near-Earth space, from the ionosphere out through the magnetosphere. Its density and energy govern spacecraft charging, radio propagation, and the behaviour of the radiation belts.","entryPath":"/space-environment/plasma-environment"},{"id":"space_hazard:spacecraft-charging","name":"Spacecraft Charging","type":"space_hazard","domain":"science","description":"The build-up of electric charge on a spacecraft as it moves through the space plasma, especially during geomagnetic storms. A sudden discharge can damage electronics — a leading cause of space-weather-related spacecraft anomalies.","entryPath":"/space-environment/spacecraft-charging"}]}