Space Junk Reaching "Tipping Point"

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Half a century of space exploration has left thousands of particles orbiting the Earth. Scientists say the so-called "space junk" poses a risk to future space missions and they're they're trying to find a way to clean it up.

The amount of debris orbiting the Earth has reached "a tipping point" for collisions, a U.S. study revealed. And this would create more of the debris that threatens astronauts and satellites.

[Robert Massey, Royal Astronomical Society in London]:
"There must be literally millions of tiny pieces up there. There have certainly been thousands of satellite launches. So, it depends on where you draw the line - down to the very smallest particles, there must be an enormous amount of material simply because we've been putting objects in space for 50 years and each time you launch something it can be a bit messy, you do generate a bit more."

The amount of orbital debris tracked by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network jumped significantly from December 2006 to July 2011, with nearly 20 percent of the objects stemming from the destruction of the Chinese FENGYUN 1-C satellite, according to the National Research Council.

[Robert Massey, Royal Astronomical Society in London]:
"It could be as destructive as a bullet. If you had something significantly bigger than that, of bolt size then it's more like a very large bullet or almost perhaps a shell in the level of destruction and so this is a serious issue. The problem is there's an awful lot of the stuff out there and we don't know exactly where it is so it is a good idea to think about ways of how to get rid of it and to prevent it being added to in the first place."

Orbital debris poses a threat to the approximately 1,000 operational commercial, military and civilian satellites orbiting the Earth.

NASA needs a new strategic plan for mitigating the hazards posed by spent rocket bodies, discarded satellites and thousands of other pieces of junk flying around the planet.

Possible solutions to clear the debris range from magnetic nets to laser brooms that would sweep the material safely towards the Earth's atmosphere.

[Lourens Visagie, Research Engineer, Surrey Space Centre in London]:
"A typical small satellite might be up there for 50 years to 100 years but with the sail we can get rid of it in something like a year to five years."

Experts suggest the best solution is to limit the debris created at source so that the majority of it returns to the Earth's atmosphere almost immediately after launch rather than floating in space for years or, in some cases, decades.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• NTD
• NTDTV
• Space Junk
• Tipping Point
• orbiting
• satellite
• FENGYUN 1-C
• NASA
• magnetic nets
• laser brooms

[sirunlalala]

clean up after yourselves you dirtbags

[tranceofdeath]

Now haha you will relize we need to create energy shields for our spacecraft.

[JustSomePerson888]

''laser brooms that would sweep the material safely towards the Earth's atmosphere.''

wtf are they intending to scoop it up with? a giant mech-arm with a shovel pan attached?

[PinkProgram]

Salvage Amunculi (hybrotic organisms) that filter through the debris like whales, processing the junk into usable resources :3 Use them in conjunction with Builder Amunculi to build new structures or repair existing equipment :D

[VoLCoMzYaDiGG]

Its space, ITS SO VAST ITS INFINITE. I dont think a few particles of glass, dust, space debris should be this difficult to expose of.

[ManAtPlace1]

create forcefields ;)

[88Kamikaze69]

Kind of gives a new perspective regarding the people willing to do space walks up there ^^

But couldn't they just take that super strong, super light foam stuff nasa invented for re-entry shields and shape it into giant squares sweeping sectors around the earth?

The debrie would probably punch through it but I am assuming the reduction in speed would force it into the atmosphere so it could burn up?

Some kind of adhesive should prevent the foam turning into more debrie.

[OrogDeMalfur]

that ladys jaw could nock over her beer

[Nocturnalk1ller]

Cool