The glass panes of the COLUMBUS Space Station Viewports are hypervelocity impact critical items but must be able to withstand the meteoroid and debris environment in a certain range of impact probability. For this a hypervelocity impact test series with glass samples has been performed. The results have been put down in damage curves. A few tests with transparent plastic samples were performed for qualitative comparison. Parallel to the impact tests numerical analyses using a hydrocode have been carried out. The mathematical model has been calibrated with the test results and has been prepared for extrapolation beyond the test limits. The results of both investigations, testing and numerical analyses, give confidence in the developed Viewport concept. © 1990.
