An SD_SURF analysis will show which velocities and obliquities are the most probable to cause a penetration. This determination can help the analyst select a shield design which is best suited to the predominant penetration mechanism. The analysis also indicates the most suitable parameters for development or verification testing.

Prior space debris analysis codes told designers which areas were most vulnerable but gave no information to help select the most efficient shield design for a given area. The new approach, used in SD_SURF code, first summarizes an exposed area on the spacecraft in a table of velocity and obliquity. The table can be generated from a description of simple geometry (plane, sphere, or cylinder) or the code can read the GEOM output from BUMPERII (included with SD_SURF; a VAX version with manuals is available from COSMIC, MFS-28565). This allows a complex geometry to be processed (including self shielding calculations) and stored as a small file for further trade studies or optimization.