Space debris is the collection of useless objects in orbit around Earth. It includes all from erosion, spent rocket stages, old satellites, collisions, and fragments from disintegration. A large number of technical studies are currently developing concepts of active removal of space debris to protect space assets from on orbit collision. Since orbits overlap with new spacecraft therefore debris may collide with operational spacecraft.
Space debris is important and a global cooperation is needed to develop appropriate and affordable strategies to minimize the potential impact of space debris on future space missions. It is important to have a safe scientific and technical basis for future action on the complex attributes of space debris and focus on understanding aspects of research related to space debris, including:
Debris measurement techniques
Mathematical modelling of the debris environment
Characterizing the space debris environment
Measures to mitigate the risks of space debris, including spacecraft design and measures to protect against space debris.
A certain amount of research on space debris had already been carry out in some countries, which had allowed for a better understanding of the sources of debris, the areas in near-Earth orbit that were reaching high levels of space debris density, the effects and probabilities of collisions and the necessity to reduce the creation of space debris.
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...
... middle of paper ...
...itigation measures introduce some cost burden to missions, it would be beneficial that similar mitigation measures are considered for all missions globally. Many organizations involved in space operations have become aware of the potential threats of space debris, and some of those organizations have initiated efforts to mitigate debris generation and to share the results of those efforts with the international community.
Thousands of small sized pieces of space waste i.e. Screw, glove, and piece of an antenna broken off from an old satellite orbit Earth. Such debris is harmful for satellites. The cleanspace project anticipates using laser technology to do a proper clean up. Orbit prediction results on the effect of the velocity change due to Laser Debris Removal engagement is performed for standard debris objects and different combinations of LDR characteristics.
Prior to President Obama’s policy, the 2006 National Space Policy set forth by President Bush had an entirely different tone as far as space warfare is concerned. The 2006 policy laid out national security guidelines that spoke of global strategic warning, missile defense, denying adversary’s use of space, and intelligence collection. These statements are not found in the 2010 policy. Three techniques that have implications on space warfare that can be found in the 2010 space policy are transparency, cooperation, and arms control.
There is an ongoing debate on the issue of weaponizing space in order to protect our national space assets and achieve national strategic objectives. This is an issue because of the increase of more space faring nations trying to exploit the benefits of space and other nations also trying to develop capabilities to disrupt other from using it. This background paper will outline the current international laws and policies, our national policies in regard to space, current issues that catalyzed this debate, the benefits and disadvantage of weaponizing space.
These are the reasons why I believe there should be more investment in space research and technology. It would be a time consuming and financially draining quest, but the pay off in new technology, applications, resources, and expansion opportunities make it a goal to strive for. As our rate of consumption of Earth’s natural resources continues to increase, it is imperative that we invest in the research of outer space as a possible solution to sustaining the human race.
A successful space program is needed in America, and here’s why: we are losing our grip on the title of the world superpower and a new age of economics and politics is coming faster than we are prepared for. To be prepared for this new age we need the funds, which can be found in our space. The most deadly of those threats: asteroids. Don Yeoman, an employee at the Jet Propulsion Lab, a NASA facility, tracks over 600,000 asteroids every day.
To analyze the number of satellites sent into the space by humans, let’s consider figure – 1. Figure – 1 shows the numbers of satellites sent every year from 1957 to 2014. In Figure – 1, LEO represents Lower Earth Orbit, MEO represents Medium Earth Orbit, GEO represents Geostationary Orbit and there are other space satellites indicated by the orange color3. According to the graph, it can be stated that most of the satellites were sent in the lower orbit of the earth. Starting from year 1957 to 2014, there were 7417 satellites that were sent in space2. From 1965 to 1978, the number of satellites sent in outer space was fairly constant2. In this time period, the maximum number of satellites sent is 177 in the year 1978, and minimum number is 138 in the year 19742. The maximum number of satellites 230 was sent in the year 1984 and this is the highest number of spacecraft sent in the space till now2. During 1979 to 1985, the spacecraft number increased rapidly2. However, from 1986 till 1996, the nu...
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).
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.
When considering this topic, one might ask themselves why explore space? We explore space to compare other planets with the earth and to study the sun, to explore the universe while finding if intelligent life exists, for satellites to improve communications, weather forecasting, navigation, resource monitoring, and “to create a focal point for a new intellectual renaissance” (Ruzic).
Detractors of public sector space agencies like NASA frequently argue that expending money and resources on sending humans into space is wasteful and irresponsible during shaky economic times. After all, in 2010 the U.S. Census Bureau in recorded 46.2 million people in poverty, the largest number in the 52 years the figure has been published. Putting tax dollars into a shuttle and sending it on an extraplanetary voyage is uneconomical in the eyes of many. However, beneficial developments of the space program can be found in airports, hospitals, laboratories, and homes around the world. Foam created for protecting the outside of a shuttle passing through the harsh atmosphere has found use as a durable, light-weight molding material for artificial limbs. Research and development for NASA'S programs has parented a network of hundreds of communication satellites used around the world on a daily basis and monitored by NASA. Robotic arms used for repairs, maintenance, and hazardous labor in sp...
Space debris is man-made objects in Earth’s orbit or objects that reenter the atmosphere, including parts that have finished their active existence and are no longer useful. This widely accepted official definition was adopted by the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), an international governmental forum for the worldwide coordination of activities related to the issues of man-made and natural debris in space (Rossi, 2011).
United Nations. "Speakers Warn Against Potential Outer Space Arms Race, as Fourth Committee Continue Debate." UNIS. United Nations Information Service, 2007. Web. .
As such, this essay will argue that space exploration is a necessity of our kind and that NASA should be progressively more financed. To begin with, space research has helped bring several developments to modern science, affecting the quality of our everyday lives. With issues like climate change, and population overgrowth, our species faces the risks of major extinction (4). Climate change has been a man-made problem in recent years that threatens our planet. It will take huge mitigations from current and future societies to even come close to reversing climate change.
Space exploration can lead to the possibility to find useful resources throughout the galaxy for human gain. Many severe problems on earth could be solved through space exploration such as world hunger, overpopulation, and dwindling fuel sources. Things such as fuel could be harvested from planets for power generation and propulsion technology, and land to cultivate for growing food, as well as land for building living areas for the growing population. These potential resources...
Space has always been a pivotal and utmost important subject for many years. In the past, scientists have made monumental advances in this field such as sending people into orbit and landing a man on the moon. Of course, this has only barely been explored and we still have a lot more to see of the ever-vast outer space. One of the most significant topics of all of science has only been touched and there’s still more to come.
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.