We’re not just polluting the Earth! How did a speck of paint do this?

What is Space Junk?  Space junk is debris orbiting the Earth.  This debris can range from a speck of paint to an entire satellite.  There are about 4 million pounds of the debris in low-Earth orbit.  Only man-made debris is considered Space Junk.  Natural debris is not considered Space Junk. Micro-meteorites and meteorites orbiting Earth are a natural part of space.

What is Space junk? According to the BBC Space debris consists of:  jettisoned spacecraft parts  nuts and bolts  solar cells  abandoned satellites  paint chips  nuclear reactor cores  spent rocket stages  solid fuel fragments

Why should we care about space junk?  Satellites can be completely destroyed by this junk. That means you might not get satellite TV for awhile.  Devices that use Global Positioning Satellite will no longer work if the GPS gets hit by a piece of space junk.  The predicted path of the orbiter have to be adjusted so that they don’t get hit. This means tracking the junk down.  The ISS(International Space Station) almost had a major collision a month ago. If the object had hit the space station, it would have been a disaster.  Out of control space junk could set space science back by slowing exploration.  This trash could orbit for as many as 10,000 years before it is pulled into our atmosphere.

Significant Incidents  A dysfunctional Russian satellite and US communications satellite hit each other March 12, According to Russia's Major General Alexander Yakushin, an Iridium 33 satellite and a Russian Kosmos 2251 military satellite were the satellites that collided. This event was 500 miles above Earth. Debris spread across adding to the already piling space debris.  In 1983 a tiny speck of paint from a satellite made a hole nearly a quarter inch wide in the side window of a shuttle.  Last month the space station had to dodge a piece of debris about 4 inches wide. It actually turned out to be a box full of paperclips.  This is a picture of a propellant tank from off the Delta 2 rockets. It landed in George town Texas in January 22, If that hit property it would of severely damaged it.

What kind of danger does this debris pose? If the following three objects traveled at 21,600 mph…  A 1 mm metal chip poses as much a threat as a.22 caliber rifle.  A pea sized ball can do the damage of a 400 pound safe going 60 MPH.  A chunk of metal the size of a tennis ball is as dangerous as 25 sticks of dynamite. 21,600 MPH isn’t even the top speed. So imagine how fast some junk may be going and the damage it could do. If the examples on this slide were that powerful, what kind of damage could this have when it was still in orbit?

What could we do to get rid of space junk? The most basic things to do are to “kick it out or shove it in.”  If you kick the junk out of the Earth’s gravitational pull, it could go off into space or land on the moon with the problem solved.  But it is much easier to blast the junk in the atmosphere and watch it burn.  We could use lasers, aero gel, and even make a cosmic junkyard to deal with space junk.

Blasting it in….  Jim Hollopeter, an aerospace engineer who helped design rockets in the 80s, proposes building a giant hose to hose space junk into the Earth’s atmosphere. 1. Most of the debris would burn in the Atmosphere. But some worry that it will not safely burn up.

Shoving it out….  Some debris is too dangerous to send down on Earth 1. An ammonia tank for example. 2. This debris could be dealt with by flinging it out of our atmosphere. Then it could land on the moon or beyond.

Laser…. Tilt?  Another option is to use laser, these laser would singe the edge of a piece of space junk making it point downwards so that re-entry will happen quicker. You would find these laser on the ISS or maybe on ground like the Orion ground based laser. The thing we can’t do with laser is blast the space junk, that would make even more space junk.

Fly paper for space junk.  Space junk is numerous and spread out so if you have a pane of aero gel, al large pane of course, you could trap a large amount of space junk and fall into the atmosphere and burn up. Aero gel is also cheap to bring up so it is a pretty good option.

Cosmic Junkyard  An interesting thought is to have junk around the ISS. This would give shielding from oncoming space junk and it could supply resources for future missions. This gives a double positive which means that this could be an option. The problem is, is that how would you get the space junk around the ISS in the first place?

If we do not address the problem…  Worldwide satellite communications could be disrupted.  Military surveillance cameras in space could be destroyed. This has troubles such as not being able to see in the terrorist’s hide out or dangerous countries. This would affect security of everyone.  GPS devices would be useless if something collided into their satellites. Airplanes couldn’t be able to know where they are because the Global Positioning Satellite was destroyed. People who are lost with a GPS device wouldn’t know where they are because the device doesn’t work  Future space missions would be impossible. We would no longer be able to launch rockets because the density of the space junk is too great. You would not be able to avoid it. We would not be able to set up a moon colony. We couldn’t explore Mars any longer either.  Space exploration scientific advancement will be set back.

Interesting Space Junk Anomalies  Edward White lost a glove during the first American space walk. That glove orbited Earth for a month at speeds of 28,000 KMH. This means that this glove became the most dangerous piece of clothing ever because of its speed.  The U.S. Space Command observes space junk and space debris. They do this so that launch dates and paths can be planned safely. Only pieces bigger than 10 cm are tracked.  The oldest known piece of space junk still in orbit is the Vanguard I. It was launched on March 17, That means it is roughly 51 years old.

Bibliography  Works Cited  Britt, Robert R. "Space junk." Space.com. 13 Mar Apr  NASA 4 Mar Apr  Discover Magazine 2 Feb Apr  Discovery 4 June Apr  Discovery 26 July Apr  Kioskea 5 Aug Apr  Gizmodo 4 June Apr  WSJ 4 Oct Apr  How Stuff Works 13 July Apr  Wikimedia 3 Jan Apr  Warwick 12 Feb Apr  Austronautix 19 Aug Apr  BBC 23 Apr Apr  FAS 2 Dec Apr  LA Times 3 Apr Apr  LA Times 3 Jan Apr  LA Times 3 July Apr  NPR 1 Jan Apr  Phil for humanity 10 Aug Apr  Space 12 Aug Apr Guys help me Save me from the Hug monster PLEASE!