Solid waste is no longer only a concern on earth, but in space as well. Space Junk, any man-made object in orbit around the Earth that no longer serves a purpose, is becoming an increasingly important concern. More and more left over debris from old rockets and satellites are being left in space, increasing the chances of collision out in space. Even a small fragment floating in space can damage a satellite, shuttle, or space station. On February 11, 2009, a U.S. communications satellite collided with a non-functioning Russian satellite. While destroying both satellites, the collision also created more debris that endangered other objects in space.
Since 1957 the United States and what is now the former Soviet Union have conducted about 4,000 space launches. The leftovers from these launches -- used-up satellites, the rockets that carried the satellites aloft, equipment from aborted scientific experiments -- form a sort of orbital time capsule, a mausoleum of space technology. In 1963 the Air Force released 400 million tiny antennas about the size of needles into orbit in order to see if radio waves would bounce off them. Today, telecommunication companies all over the world are putting up three times as many satellites in orbit as were launched in the past forty years. In order to minimize the risk of collision between space craft and space junk, the U.S. Space Surveillance Network tracks all debris larger than 10 centimeters. As of July 2009, the network detected approximately 19,000 manmade objects larger than 10 centimeters within Earth’s orbit. But what is the big deal with all this space junk?
Humans have been polluting and wrecking the earth with new technologies for many years. We have created nuclear waste that will take billions of dollars to clean up or dispose, polluted our water and air to the point of causing global climate change, and continue to degrade our environment without any thought of the affects on future generations to come. We have now moved to space. In his article, Steve Olson states that, “In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development defined sustainable development as meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In space we are failing the sustainability test miserably.” He believes that in a hundred years from now, when our descendants want to put satellites into orbits teeming with debris, they will wonder what we could have been thinking. The simple answer is we weren't thinking at all.” Our atmosphere protects us from the dangers of space- asteroids, cosmic radiation, and extreme temperature that threaten the earth’s surface. However, while we are striving toward the goal of sustainability on earth, it is ironic that we are neglecting the area surrounding and protecting our earth. Besides increase threat of collisions up in space, the increasing number of debris may in fact jeopardize unknown future opportunities like solar power stations that might be necessary to provide energy in the future, or the safety of space stations.
There is no official space legislation yet. However, NASA, as well as many NGO’s are campaigning for the protection of space for our future.
Kristin Sukys
Very interesting topic! the first question that popped into my mind in terms of "space junk" is accountability. Who are we going to hold accountable for such space junk? I know that certain satellites and space equipment may have technology that is characteristic to a certain country, but how about the debris? How will we begin to address the issue without holding someone accountable? The Space Protection Program was developed in 2008 in order to provide as an information source and "go to" for U.S. decision makers in regards to how to best protect the most vulnerable space systems. I'm sure as technology improves, more ideas will develop. I thoroughly agree with the program when it states that strong cooperation and support from government, industries and nations will needed to address this problem. However, this issue is a vast one that exceeds all boundaries. How do we go about addressing such a complex, comprehensive problem such as this? it will be hard to tell what role different countries will play in the future "space clean up" because there is no ownership of space. As we have seen in other environmental issues, it is essential to point out those that are at fault to enhance the efficiency of a protection program. But who can we point the finger at for this?
ReplyDeleteI think the next stage for this ever growing problem may fall on earth, literally. Eventually all this debris will start raining down on Earth. There has actually been one recorded incident of someone being hit by human-made space debris. A woman named Lottie Williams in Oklahoma in 1997 was hit in the shoulder by a 13 centimeter piece of metallic material. Later it was confirmed that it was a piece of the fuel tank of a Delta II rocket. This rocket had been launch in 1996 by the U.S. Air Force for a satellite in 1996. Thankfully she was not injured; however this has not been the only case involving space debris. There have been more fallings that have had close encounters with people around the globe.
ReplyDelete~Shawn Page
I also think that this is an important issue that a lot of people do not think about. We cannot just throw our waste into space. NASA has investigated into a program called Project Orion. This involves removing debris via laser. This is designed to move the debris but I believe it could be costly and could possibly have dangerous effects. Check out this site for more information:
ReplyDeletehttp://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20091208/sc_space/nasadarpahostspacejunkwakeupcall