Space is an important place for scientific exploration. However, we always face one perilous problem — space debris. In fact, according to ESA1, there are at least 128,974,000 pieces of useless objects floating in space that are larger than 1mm wide.
In this article, we’ll have an introduction to space debris and explain how to mitigate its risks.
What Is Space Debris?
Pieces of space debris are useless things that are left in space. These items include spent rocket stages, defunct satellites, even flecks of paint and fragments of satellites, and more. Therefore, we really left a lot of unusable pieces of junk in space, and they are too dense.
How dense are they? Well, space probes need to do maneuvers solely because they have to avoid collisions, not to alter their orbits. According to CNN2, the ISS (International Space Station) has nearly collided with other objects three times last year (2020), and narrowly missed the item. If we sent fewer spacecraft to space in the first place, that wouldn’t happen that often.
What If These Objects Collide?
The near-collisions make you scared, right? This section will explain why it’s worth avoiding space debris despite the massive amounts of money and effort in the budget.
The most significant concern about these collisions is the speed of the moving debris. According to ESA, they move at approximately 7.8 kilometers per second in low-Earth orbit. Although they move slower at higher altitudes, the velocity is still substantial.
If even a small piece hits a spacecraft, it can cause major damage or break the satellite up entirely. This event will bring even more space debris, causing the possibility of collisions to get higher. The chain reaction is called the Kessler Effect.
Image Credit: Canva
The Kessler Effect
There will be (or already have) so much junk floating in space that it can trigger the Kessler Effect at any time — with just one collision. What will happen if two or more objects collide at very high speeds? They can’t withstand the force and break up into tiny pieces! That’s what the effect is about.
With more pieces of junk generated in every single collision, the density between collisions will get higher. As a result, the exponential increase can ultimately lead to the space surrounding Earth being shielded by tiny pieces of unusable material.
When the amount of debris is higher than the threshold, it will break every space mission. The rockets won’t even get past the low-Earth orbit and the spacecrafts will receive fatal damage.
How to Mitigate the Dangers of Space Debris?
To save humanity from being stuck on Earth, we need to reduce the amount of space debris. We know it’s a hassle, but it’s definitely worth it.
To achieve that, we have to do both of the following:
- We must stop producing space debris
- We need to clean up the space around Earth
Let’s go into them right away.
1. We Must Stop Producing Space Debris
Firstly, stop producing problematic trash is essential, just like when you reuse materials on Earth. But, we cannot reuse or recycle satellites as they are dead when this is “supposed” to occur. We need to dispose or destroy them properly instead.
The first method is to put them into heliocentric orbit where defunct spacecraft are not quite as dense. They are suitable for the satellites in the Lagrange points as one tiny move can veer the satellite off course completely.
However, this doesn’t solve the problem — the satellite still exists. Sometimes, the satellite can return near Earth if it’s placed into the “right” orbit. Therefore, the best bet for satellites in low-Earth orbit is to destroy it in our atmosphere.
When the low-flying satellite almost dies, it can use its final bit of fuel to adjust its orbit to go around Earth at a lower altitude. Then, the probe can do so many times until the altitude is so low that it enters the atmosphere.
Image Credit: Canva
Then, the spacecraft disintegrates, and the entire structure is gone except the heat-resistant materials. Many people would worry that they may contaminate the atmosphere significantly. Still, please consider how many asteroids have hit Earth without any damage to the air around us.
2. We Need to Clean up the Space Around Earth
However, the precaution above is undoubtedly not enough. According to National Geographic, the amount of space debris will increase for at least centuries even if we don’t launch new satellites into space. Thus, we also need to clean up the area around Earth to remove the unused stuff manually.
Some ideas include:
- Using nets and robotic arms to capture the object.
- Slinging it toward the atmosphere.
- Even using lasers to vaporize small debris.
Whether the methods work or not, they put effort into making the space environment clean again.
Conclusion
In this article, we explained space debris and its harm. We also discussed how to mitigate the risks of space debris. To learn more about the harmful stuff, please visit the websites in the references below.
References and Credits
- (2021, January 8). ESA – Space debris by the numbers – European Space Agency. Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https://www.esa.int/Safety_Security/Space_Debris/Space_debris_by_the_numbers
- Allen Kim. (2020, September 23). NASA admin warns ISS space junk problem is getting worse after 3 near collisions – CNN. Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/23/us/nasa-iss-space-debris-scn-trnd/index.html
- (2020, March 2). Low Earth orbit – ESA. Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2020/03/Low_Earth_orbit
- (2019, June 28). Where Do Old Satellites Go When They Die? | NASA Space Place — NASA Science for Kids. Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/spacecraft-graveyard/en/
- Maya Wei-Haas. (2019, April 25). Space junk facts and information – National Geographic. Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/reference/space-junk/
- European Space Agency, ESA. (2017, April 18). Space debris – a journey to Earth – YouTube. Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT7typHkpVg
- Elizabeth Howell. (2014, March 3). Space Junk Clean Up: 7 Wild Ways to Destroy Orbital Debris | Space. Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https://www.space.com/24895-space-junk-wild-clean-up-concepts.html
Image Credits: NASA’s Eyes, Canva