Since the beginning of the space race, at the end of the 50s of the last century, Humans have also transferred their waste into space, which today has become a scrap metal dump orbiting Earth in the 21st century. and what raises “one of the most pressing issues regarding our future in space,” according to Austrian Josef Aschbacher, director of the European Space Agency (ESA).
Space junk is considered debris or debris of various sizes, orbiting the Earth at high speed as a result of human activity. Rocket shells, abandoned satellites, and even missile scrap In addition to posing risks to astronauts in outer space, orbiting our planet at around seven kilometers per second, and a threat to the future of military, civil and commercial communications, as well as space exploration.
The International Space Station (ISS/ISS), the heaviest and largest object in Earth orbit, used by countries as a scientific laboratory, has been shielded to prevent damage from impacts and has, however, had to perform about twenty times since 1999. operations to avoid the debris of this web of moving particles. The last unscheduled maneuver to correct its orbit took place in July 2020.
thousands of pieces
ESA observes about 26,000 objects from Earth, of which only 2,800 are satellites in operation or have some function, and most of the rest are fragments from collisions.
they exist in space 5,000 objects longer than 1 meter, 25,000 objects over 10 centimeters, 750,000 objects between 1 and 2 centimeters and 166 million particles larger than 1 millimeter.
Y The projections are not good, according to the ESA, space junk is increasing by 5 percent each year and will triple in the next 20 years.
But worse for UN astrophysicists, the problem will continue to escalate as parts in orbit, even if artifacts stop being sent into space. they continue to collide with each other and therefore multiply, It produces a scenario known as “Kessler syndrome,” named after the NASA expert who first assumed it in 1978, and warns of hypothetical risk.
Most of these fragments are located in the most useful altitude bands, namely in low orbit (200 to 2,000 kilometers above Earth level) and also in stationary orbit, approximately 36,000 kilometers above the Equator from Earth.
Currently, it is the atmosphere that is responsible for “sweeping” space debris by slowing it down, losing altitude and eventually breaking up the debris, but only the smaller ones and those in the lowest orbits.
According to the results of the VIII European Space Debris Conference held in Germany in 2021 “Removing useless objects from space is part of the solution”. Luisa Innocenti, who is in charge of ESA’s space cleanup program, warned that the solution being worked on is difficult, but “if we prepare the satellites of the future so that they can be lifted, we will make things easier.”
ESA: Void task
completely The European Space Agency, which has been developing a mission for years to trap and eliminate this waste. Named after the Swiss company that designed the device for this purpose, known as ClearSpace, its launch mission for 2025 will consist of collecting a 100-pound piece of the Vega booster rocket that was launched and abandoned in 2013. It is in orbit around the Earth at an altitude of 660 kilometers.
later on, The “hunter” satellite will bring this piece closer to Earth’s atmospherehere it will in principle break apart due to friction in contact with it.
To date, this type of technology is under development and in testing due to the difficulty involved. no mandatory international regulation to avoid cosmic scrap between those participating in the space race, that is, between states and corporations.
However, attention to the problem is growing. There are currently studies predicting a possible future where Earth has rings similar to those of Saturn but is made of a different material: cosmic garbage.
Also, while our relationship to a sustainable space future is at stake, some point to other reasons for tackling orbital debris.
Scientist Thomas Schildknecht, director of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), invokes a “right to a clear sky.” “The image of a clear sky is a legacy of humanity. Only by observing it can we learn about the origin of the universe,” Schildknecht said during the aforementioned European Conference on Space Debris.
…….
Contact address of the environment department: [email protected]