Whipple shield

According to NASA, the Whipple shield is designed to withstand collisions with debris up to 1 cm.

The bumper is not expected to stop the incoming particle or even remove much of its energy, but to break up and disperse it, dividing the original particle energy among many fragments that fan out between bumper and wall.

The original particle energy is spread more thinly over a larger wall area, which is more likely to withstand it.

Although a Whipple shield lowers total spacecraft mass compared to a solid shield (always desirable in spaceflight), the extra enclosed volume may require a larger payload fairing.

[5][6] The filling in these shields is usually a high-strength material like Kevlar or Nextel aluminium oxide fiber.