There are over 500,000 pieces of debris that are between the size of a cherry to bigger than a melon, Some think people should not go into space because the more people do the more debris is building up in space. Additionally, the more humans go into space and let the debris build up, what goes up must come down, the debris will fall back down and harm Earth. Others think if humans never go into space humans will never know what is beyond us. Even though space exploration can help human beings understand more about the planet and the planets around us, space exploration should be stopped because it can harm the objects that are in space and it is terrible for the Earth’s environment. All of this debris started to build up in 1942, the first rocket was launched by Germany (Astronomer 1). The debris just keep growing and growing, but it gets sucked into Earth’s orbit. The more it goes around Earth the closer it gets to entering Earth's atmosphere. About once a week, an intact object comes in, a rocket body or a satellite (Predicting 2). Sometime Saturday night, a defunct German X-ray satellite named ROSAT is going to come screaming through the …show more content…
Something the size of a cherry going at 17,000 miles per hour -- which it will be up in space -- if that hits a spacecraft it can have the same effect as a hand grenade going off (Astronauts 1). “‘In this case it can cause a huge and I mean great deal or impact on Earth, But to fix this, the Pentagon is building a laser to blast debris in space. If you can blast a piece of space debris, you can also blast someone else's satellite,’" she points out. "’And due to the 'Star Wars treaties' ... putting a laser into space is causing political problems’” (Astronauts 1).The laser will focus on a piece of space debris and it will repeatedly break it into bursts like a machine gun ting the piece of debris (Astronauts
As stated by the AIAA the space debris issue should be faced by all space users, and coordinated action should be taken immediately if the future use of space is not to be seriously restricted. "There is an immediate need for an international dialog to be initiated on the space debris issue, with the goal of forming responsible groups to coordinate research ...
Since the historical launch of the first successful artificial satellite Sputnik on October 4th 1957 humanity has launched thousands of satellites into orbit above Earth. The prodigious use of Earth’s orbit has resulted in an important consequence, space debris. While currently most space debris does not pose a serious threat to Earth or operating space technology the planned increase of satellite launches as well as the continued accumulation of debris from current satellites will necessitate drastic action in order to ensure that Earth orbit technology remains viable. The ability of space debris to hinder further space exploration and travel is also a necessary obstacle to overcome in order for future investment in space technologies by global governments and private industries. Finally the valuable nature of components used in satellites, chiefly gold but also including other metals creates an important economic incentive for the reclamation and recycling of components found within the atmosphere. These factors lead to the logical conclusion that by the year 2025 a space debris reclamation project must begin in order to ensure the continuing advancement of current communication, navigation, defense, and scientific technologies.
An American observatory discovers a large near-Earth asteroid, or NEA. It is given the provisional designation 2044CF. Initial data suggests that the object has a three percent chance of impacting Earth. NASA assigns a team to investigate further.
Knowing the impermanence of the Earth, do humans have a moral obligation to find and
[1] According to NASA, space debris at an altitude of below 600 km above Earth will naturally succumb to the planet's gravity in a few years, while altitudes of around 800 km and above 1000 km take decades and centuries, respectively. [1] Because the debris stays in orbit so long, the chances of it colliding rises. These debris collisions create even more pieces of debris, each of which has a higher chance of colliding with other debris, with those collisions each exponentially creating even more debris to deal with.
Life in the United States was very different once the space race was underway, and especially after the Soviet Union was able to launch the first space craft, Sputnik 1, into space. After the launching of Sputnik 1, Americans were struck with fear knowing that an enemy satellite was flying right over their heads and that we were behind the Soviet Union in the space race. As a counter to the launching of Sputnik 1, the CIA, white house, and Air Force all teamed up and created a surveillance satellite that would be able to monitor where every Soviet Union missile was being held. America was intimidated by the Soviet Union’s initial success in the space race, and although leaders of America never admitted to in,
Space junk, also known as orbital debris, comes in many different sizes, shapes and forms. It is separated in to two main parts – natural and artificial debris (Space 1). The natural debris is meteoroid and comet debris that was left behind (Space 1). Natural debris only revolves around the sun, so it is not heard or talked about on earth (Space 1). The artificial debris, known as man-made, sizes in from one centimeter to a whole rocket! The smallest kind which is smaller than a penny has over 100 trillion pieces floating around in space, such as flecks of paint (Dunbar 1). The next kind which is bigger than a penny but smaller than a softball has over 100,000 pieces, such as nuts and bolts (Dunbar 1). The biggest kind which is bigger than a softball has over 13,000 pieces, such as satellite pieces and entire satellites left in space (Dunbar 1). Most of the items in space were not put there but were created through explosions that created thousands of other pieces of debris. Most of the debris which is satellites has come from Russia (Plumber 1).
The National Space Policy has undergone changes throughout its new creation on August 31, 2006, under both the Obama administration and the Bush administration. The act originally was established for overarching national policies that governed the conduct of U.S space activities. President Dwight Eisenhower said “More than by any other imaginative concept, the mind of man is aroused by the thought of exploring the mysteries of outer space. Through such exploration, man hopes to broaden his horizons, add to his knowledge, improve his way of living on Earth.” With that statement, is where our time in space begins.
In order to avoid being hit by space debris, scientists developed the collision avoidance technique. They are also looking for ways to remove the debris from Earth's orbit. Most importantly, tracking these objects is key to solving all the problems. The amount of space junk accumulates daily due to the high volume of junk-to-junk collisions.
Carl Sagan once said “every planetary civilization will be endangered by impacts from space, every surviving civilization is obliged to become spacefaring--not because of exploratory or romantic zeal, but for the most practical reason imaginable: staying alive... If our long-term survival is at stake, we have a basic responsibility to our species to venture to other worlds.” The National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA, is executing Sagan’s words every day. President Dwight D. Eisenhower created NASA in 1958 with the purpose of peaceful rather than military space exploration and research to contribute to society. Just 11 years after the creation, NASA put Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon, the first humans to accomplish this feat. NASA’s research and innovation looked promising but it came at a cost. Money, resources, and spacecraft accidents most famously Apollo 13 all hindered NASA’s research. In the 21st century the debate between funding for NASA is at its peak since the birth of the organization in 1958 especially when there are numerous problems throughout the world. Is the money spent on space exploration worth the advantages and advances it contributes to society?
Throughout human history, every generation has faced evolutionary changes because of the advance other type of cultures bring. For example, when Hernándo Cortés arrived at the coast of the Aztec Empire, he was seen as a god. They changed their beliefs and way of living after that prudent impact of two civilizations at the doorstep of each other. In this case, we shall see if there is a probability to meeting extraterrestrial life. Perhaps the most controversial topic about alien life is the similar sightings of UFOs around the globe.
There are more than 20,000 pieces of debris larger than a softball orbiting the Earth. This debris can travel at speeds up to 17,500 mph. Even a relatively small piece of space debris can damage a satellite or a spacecraft at these speeds. Additionally, there are more than 500,000 pieces...
Space debris are all manmade objects, including their parts and fragments, whether their owners can be recognized or not, in Earth orbit or re-entering the dense layers of the atmosphere that is worthless with no reasonable bated breath of their being able to assume or resume their proposed functions or any other functio...
According to NASA, more than 500,000 pieces of debris, or “space junk,” are tracked as they orbit the Earth- just hundreds of miles above us. Space junk-which is also known by the names space and orbital debris, are made up of a mixture of natural (meteorites) and man-made materials that no longer serves a further purpose or function.
Space exploration is very beneficial to humankind because it creates new technologies, it brings different countries together, and gives people a better understanding of our Earth.