Limiting space junk's threat by predicting its mess in the Earth-moon neighborhood

Debris from moonbound spacecraft has left craters on the lunar surface since the U.S. Apollo missions. But the moon is not used to being surrounded by debris. With an expected resurgence in lunar missions in the coming years, such as the U.S. Artemis II test flight, Purdue University engineer Carolin Frueh is researching how to track the likely increase in spacecraft debris and minimize its impact in the area between the moon and Earth, called the cislunar region. In the next decade, at least 30 missions could be launching to the cislunar region.