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Human beings have a great capacity to produce waste. This waste is no longer limited only to planet Earth, the amount of garbage that orbits our planet is increasing and represents a danger for telecommunications and space missions, apart from for space in this area. This is what we call space junk.
In this Green Ecologist article, we will talk about what is space junk and how can we avoid itas it is vital that you start reducing their amount.
What is space junk
It is estimated that currently orbit around the Earth about 8,000 satellites, of which approximately 560 are operational. If we add this to the debris generated in the various space missions, they make about a 600 tons of waste orbiting the Earth. It is estimated about 100 million pieces of garbage in total. The origins and sizes of this space junk They are very different, from small pieces of metal or paint to whole satellites.
These orbiting pieces represent a real danger for the different satellites important in human communications or caring for the environment, for space missions and astronauts. An example is that astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) have been forced to hide more than once in special compartments to avoid colliding with large objects.
However, according to experts they are the smallest residues are the most dangerous, because they are the most difficult to locate and move at high speeds, so when they hit the equipment they can generate the effect of a submachine gun bullet. Such objects are known by the name of debris.
The need to clean up space junk
A large part of these residues that are space pollution They disintegrate when trying to cross the Earth's atmosphere, but it is the largest ones that can reach the earth's surface or even endanger commercial flights. For example, during 2007, a flight from Santiago de Chile to New Zealand reported the presence of a fragment of space debris about eight kilometers from its position.
The problem of this garbage is getting bigger and bigger, being able to make Earth's orbit impassable due to its presence. Even the presence of an increasing volume of space debris can generate other impacts with more objects and produce more waste, and so on. This cascading effect of space debris was proposed by NASA consultant Donald J. Kessler under the name Kessler syndrome.
Proposals to avoid space debris
In recent years, various international proposals to combat space debris in an efficient, ecological and economical way. Some of these are:
- Electrodynamic cables: This proposal was made by the Japanese Space Exploration Agency (JAXA) and consists of a satellite that locates the pieces of garbage and eliminates it. For this, it uses a cable that takes advantage of the Earth's magnetism to drag the garbage and reduce its speed. In this way it would be possible to eliminate the residues from Earth's orbit and make them pass through the atmosphere until they disintegrate.
- Simulator for electrodynamic lashings: It is a European project with Spanish participation and it proposes to design a mooring to connect it to the satellites. These moorings would roll up like a reel and shift once the satellite is no longer operational. This would remove the waste from Earth's orbit and cause it to disintegrate in the atmosphere.
- To be: is another project in which a Spanish university participates. It consists of preparing a laser that could be fired from the Earth and destroy the debris from 1 to 20 cm.
- Harpoons: It consists of the development of a harpoon-shaped instrument to capture the waste and direct it to the atmosphere, where it will disintegrate.
- Collecting vehicles: It consists of a space vehicle that would collect the scrap and transport it to the base station.
- Aerial Gel: It consists of a synthetic and light material like a gel that solidifies and traps everything that comes in contact with it. It was already used once on the Stardust ship to collect space dust and it is believed that it could also be used for space debris.
If you want to read more articles similar to What is space junk and how can we avoid it, we recommend that you enter our Pollution category.
