Space pollution
Description:
In the most general sense, the term space pollution includes both the natural micrometeoroid and man-made orbital debris components of the space environment; however, as "pollution" is generally considered to indicate a despoiling of the natural environment, space pollution here refers to only man-made orbital debris. Orbital debris poses a threat to both manned and unmanned spacecraft as well as the earth's inhabitants.
Since the 1950s, many satellites have been launched to serve as communications relay devices and image sensors. But along with the space age came the beginnings of space pollution. Today, space is littered with non-functional satellites and booster rockets.
These pieces of space wreckage continue to orbit the Earth on paths that cannot be controlled from the ground. Collisions are increasingly common and pose a danger to active satellites. At a speed of 15 kilometres per second—a bullet travels at about 1 kilometre per second—even a splinter of paint can cause damage, such as by piercing an astronaut's space suit.
There are now more than 10,000 known objects larger than four inches in diameter that are tracked by U.S. ground surveillance equipment. An estimated 700 of them are operating satellites. The rest is discarded flotsam.
Enablers:
- More and more countries are launching into space. America and China are engaged in a space race to the moon, mars and beyond.
- Launch of the Galileo satellite system
- Costs of clean up
- Costs of redesigning ships
- Lack of control and standards
Inhibitors:
- New standards being adopted e.g. International Committee on Space Contamination adopts resolution that spaceflight standards for all countries should include a requirement for the space device developers to ensure the objects return from orbit.
- Becoming a bigger safety hazard to space missions
- Growing awareness
- Safety hazard on Earth from falling debris e.g. A 550-pound main propellant tank of the second stage of a Delta 2 rocket fell near Georgetown, Texas in 1997. A 156-pound piece of space debris fell near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2001.
Paradigms:
Experts:
Space exploratory scientists, space debris analysts
Timing:
- In 1995, Canada became the first country to equip one of its satellites, Radarsat, with casing and shields to protect against collisions with garbage orbiting the Earth.