Why Space Debris Is A Threat

    • TOI
    • Publish Date: May 30 2017 2:06PM
    • |
    • Updated Date: May 30 2017 3:59PM
Why Space Debris Is A Threat

Six decades of human space exploration has produced a hazardous belt of orbiting debris around plant Earth. Here is why scientists are alarmed over problems it poses to space missions.

Space junk
Around 17,000 man-made objects in space are monitored from ground
Just 7 per cent of these are functioning satellites
Each piece travels at up to 25,000kph

Debris estimate

The threat

Collisions between pieces of hardware and shattering of small pieces
Remaining fuel in defunct rocket parts can cause collisions
Every year there are around 250 explosions and collisions
Two thirds of objects orbit below 2000km
The regions near the polar orbits 600-1299km are the most congested

What the trash includes
Fuel tanks and Soviet-era nuclear-powered satellites
Dripping sodium and potassium coolant from decrepit hulls
Nuts, bolts and tools dropped by spacewalking astronauts

Managing the problem
The debris cannot be controlled; therefore the attempts are made to alter the course of functioning hardware
The European Space Agency, for example, carries out about 3 collision avoidance maneuvers a year

Potential solutions in the future
Proposals are aimed at slowing down the track of large pieces or altering their course to lower their orbit, eventually leading to a fall of the object towards earth and burning up


 

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Comments

Himanshi Dhawan Saffron Public School

I have read somewhere that solar flares can cause a power-cut on the planet if they continue to affect the blue-planet.

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