<
https://www.sciencealert.com/space-junk-targeted-for-removal-may-already-have-been-struck-by-space-junk>
"We have a problem.
Ever since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, we have been launching debris into
space. Everything from space stations and large communication satellites to
small CubeSats. With each launch, we also add things such as rocket parts and
paint chips to the orbital pile.
Right now there are more than a million objects orbiting Earth wider than a
centimeter, and at least 130 million millimeter-sized objects. Most of it isn't
going to deorbit any time soon.
Orbits are so cluttered now that the International Space Station and other
crewed missions often have to shift orbits from time to time to avoid
collisions. There have been several satellite impacts from debris, which of
course makes more debris.
If we follow our current launch projects, there will come a time when
collisions are common, leading to what is known as the Kessler cascade.
Collisions make debris, and debris makes collisions, in a runaway process that
makes survival in orbit impossible.
Kessler cascades have been portrayed in several works of fiction, from the
Planetes manga to the movie
Gravity.
In
Gravity the cascade is portrayed as happening suddenly, triggered just
hours after the Russians destroy a test satellite. In reality, the process will
be gradual. Like global warming, we know there will be a point of no return if
we don't change our ways. We just don't know exactly where that hard line lies.
Fortunately, there are several projects trying to solve this problem, one of
which is a collaboration between the European Space Agency and a Swiss startup
called ClearSpace."
Via Rixty Dixet.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
