Earth's orbit needs a spring clean

[Charles RB]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14757926


Scientists in the US have warned Nasa that the amount of so-called space junk orbiting Earth is at tipping point.

A report by the National Research Council says the debris could cause fatal leaks in spaceships or destroy valuable satellites.

...

There are 22,000 pieces of debris large enough to track from the ground, but smaller objects could still cause serious damage.

The International Space Station must occasionally dodge some of the junk, which flies around the Earth at speeds of up to 17,500 mph (28,164 km/h).

In June, some debris narrowly missed the space station, forcing its six crew to go to their escape capsules and prepare for an emergency evacuation back to Earth.

The situation is critical, said Mr Kessler, a retired Nasa scientist, because colliding debris creates even more of the junk.

"We've lost control of the environment," he said.

The report links to a Darpa study, which suggests we can clean this up by large magnetic nets and giant umbrellas, among other things. This, of course, would be awesome. It'd be like a 60s Fantastic Four come to life.

So, of course, some of them are daft or counterproductive and we'll need duller things instead. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14763668) But I, for one, shall force myself to forget that and instead imagine a giant horseshoe magnet, Looney Tunes style, being swept along the atmosphere like a broom.

[J. Robb]

Sounds like a job for Mega Maid.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/4/40971/1166075-mega_maid_super.jpg

[dupont2005]

I just read an article about this in an old issue of Wired I had laying around. I can't believe they didn't foresee this decades ago.

[JCAll]

I just read an article about this in an old issue of Wired I had laying around. I can't believe they didn't foresee this decades ago.

They did. They just didn't care. Now that NASA's budget got cut to hell they have to make themselves relevant to get back into the government pocketbook.

[DonC]

Sounds like a job for Mega Maid.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/4/40971/1166075-mega_maid_super.jpg


What happens if she goes from "Suck" to "Blow?"

[Iangould]

They did. They just didn't care. Now that NASA's budget got cut to hell they have to make themselves relevant to get back into the government pocketbook.

First, NASA's budget is much the same as it has been for the last couple of decades.

Second, NASA and the scientific community have been warning the politicians about this for decades.

[mikekerrIII]

I just read an article about this in an old issue of Wired I had laying around. I can't believe they didn't foresee this decades ago.

They did :biggrin:

Science fiction writers wrote about it in the 60s

[Kevin Vetter]

It's not "junk" up there. It's strategically placed objects to make the aliens think it's to risky to try and land.

[the4thpip]

Sounds like a job for Mega Maid.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/4/40971/1166075-mega_maid_super.jpg

Ooooh, I am in love. She needs to come by my place!

[DubipR]

Reminds me of Devo's Space Junk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iktsVGg0-w0).

[Arvandor]

Should have trained more women astronauts. Lol.

[Charles RB]

It's not "junk" up there. It's strategically placed objects to make the aliens think it's to risky to try and land.

So that's why China blew up that satellite in 2007 to the confusion of everyone! They were protecting us from the Toclafane!

[thwhtGuardian]

First, NASA's budget is much the same as it has been for the last couple of decades.

Second, NASA and the scientific community have been warning the politicians about this for decades.

Exactly, that NASA is underfunded is a bit of a misnomer. Sure, it's budget isn't 4% of the federal budget like it was in the late 60's but it's still pretty high at around .6...which equals about 19 million dollars which even when accounting for inflation is larger than the budget has been since 1970.

So the problem isn't that NASA's budget has been falling it's just that the costs of their projects have been steadily rising, space flight is an expensive endeavor after all.

[moonknight11]

We need Magneto.

[Green Lantern wannabe]

It's not "junk" up there. It's strategically placed objects to make the aliens think it's to risky to try and land.

I like that. :smile:

But I don't know how anyone can clean up that mess. I mean, space is a vacuum, so you can't use a Hoover, so how else are you going to do it? Use a giant broom?

[Hiromi]

So the grand idea of ignoring the problem in hopes it would go away hasn't worked? Color me surprised.

[Ace Grayson]

So the grand idea of ignoring the problem in hopes it would go away hasn't worked? Color me surprised.

Lmao .

[JCAll]

I like that. :smile:

But I don't know how anyone can clean up that mess. I mean, space is a vacuum, so you can't use a Hoover, so how else are you going to do it? Use a giant broom?

We could always get a giant cannon and fire it into the sun.

[jade_nova]

We just need to send a shuttle up and have the astronauts pick up the trash.

[Iangould]

One reason nothing's been done about this is that most systems capable of de-orbiting or destroying space junk are also capable of de-orbiting or destroying satellites - and no country wants to start an arms race in anti-satellite weapons.

(China and the US have both demonstrated the capacity to destroy satellites in orbit but neither side has gone ahead with a full-scale deployment.)

[Gary_B]

This visualization show objects being tracked by NORAD. Each dot represents debris the size of a basketball or larger.

http://www.norcalblogs.com/watts/images/spacejunk_animation.gif

Objects much smaller than that have the potential to disable satellites or breach space stations.

[Charles RB]

I'm amazed anyone can go into space with that much crap in the way.

[Hiromi]

I'm amazed anyone can go into space with that much crap in the way.

Distance in space is difficult to really comprehend, they look so close to us because of the scale in image, in reality its not nearly so impossible.

[thwhtGuardian]

Distance in space is difficult to really comprehend, they look so close to us because of the scale in image, in reality its not nearly so impossible.

Exactly, in that picture the dot in Texas looks dangerously close to the one in Mexico...but in reality that represents a distance of a hundred miles between objects are maybe a foot long.

It's cluttered for sure, but not as bad as that image would lead you to believe.

[doolbnoom]

reminds me (for whatever reason) of the FUTURAMA ep. where a giant ball of garbage is hurtling back to Earth, and Fry gets sentimental looking at the refuse of the 20th century.

[Sean Walsh]

If only we had a device that could be used to pull those items into the atmosphere and use them to destroy the enemies of America and then say God/Yahweh/Allah/Xenu did it.

...........Bush HAD to have built something sinister like that during his presidency. If he had the time and money for the Katrina/"I Hate Blacks" weather machines, he had time for this.

[doolbnoom]

wait till the Russians and Chinese leave their crap behind- vodka bottles... chopsticks... star wars toys... lenin's body...:biggrin:


Astronauts' tracks, trash seen in new moon photos

By SETH BORENSTEIN
updated 9/6/2011 3:20:50 PM ET
WASHINGTON — A spacecraft circling the moon has snapped the sharpest photos ever of the tracks and trash left behind by Apollo astronauts in their visits from 1969 to 1972.

Images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from 13 to 15 miles up show the astronauts' paths when they walked on the moon, as well as ruts left by a moon buggy. Experts could even identify the backpacks astronauts pitched out of their lunar landers before they returned to Earth.

"What we're seeing is a trail," said Arizona State University geology professor Mark Robinson, the orbiter's chief scientist. "It's totally awesome."

However, the photos were not close enough to see individual bootprints, Robinson said.

The pictures were taken two weeks ago and show the landing sites for Apollo 12, 14 and 17. The closest images are of the 1972 Apollo 17 site, the last moon mission.

Apollo 17 Commander Eugene Cernan wrote in an email to The Associated Press that the photo gives him a chance to revisit those days, "this time with a little nostalgia and disappointment. Nostalgia because those special days are fondly etched in my memory and disappointment because it looks like now we will not be going back within the days I have left on this planet."

Two years ago, images from the same spacecraft from 30 and 60 miles out showed fuzzier images. But this year the orbiter dipped down to take about 300,000 more close-ups. The trails left by the astronauts are clear, but the places where backpacks were discarded, Apollo 17's moon buggy, and the bottom parts of the three lunar landers are blurry.
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"You have to really look at it for a long time to figure out what you're looking at," Robinson said. For example, when it comes to the moon buggy he said, "if you squint really hard you can resolve the wheels and that the wheels are slightly turned to the left."

At first, scientists thought they had a bit of a mystery: They saw more stuff than they expected. It turned out to be packing material and an insulation blanket, Robinson said.

After 40 years there does not seem to be much moon dust covering the manmade trails. It probably will take about 10 million to 100 million years for dust to cover them, Robinson said.

The photos were released a few days after the debut of the new fictional movie "Apollo 18" and before Thursday's planned launch of NASA's twin robotic spaceships to explore the moon's gravity.

[mikekerrIII]

wait till the Russians and Chinese leave their crap behind- vodka bottles... chopsticks... star wars toys... lenin's body...:biggrin:


Astronauts' tracks, trash seen in new moon photos

By SETH BORENSTEIN
updated 9/6/2011 3:20:50 PM ET
WASHINGTON — A spacecraft circling the moon has snapped the sharpest photos ever of the tracks and trash left behind by Apollo astronauts in their visits from 1969 to 1972.

Images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from 13 to 15 miles up show the astronauts' paths when they walked on the moon, as well as ruts left by a moon buggy. Experts could even identify the backpacks astronauts pitched out of their lunar landers before they returned to Earth.

"What we're seeing is a trail," said Arizona State University geology professor Mark Robinson, the orbiter's chief scientist. "It's totally awesome."

However, the photos were not close enough to see individual bootprints, Robinson said.

The pictures were taken two weeks ago and show the landing sites for Apollo 12, 14 and 17. The closest images are of the 1972 Apollo 17 site, the last moon mission.

Apollo 17 Commander Eugene Cernan wrote in an email to The Associated Press that the photo gives him a chance to revisit those days, "this time with a little nostalgia and disappointment. Nostalgia because those special days are fondly etched in my memory and disappointment because it looks like now we will not be going back within the days I have left on this planet."

Two years ago, images from the same spacecraft from 30 and 60 miles out showed fuzzier images. But this year the orbiter dipped down to take about 300,000 more close-ups. The trails left by the astronauts are clear, but the places where backpacks were discarded, Apollo 17's moon buggy, and the bottom parts of the three lunar landers are blurry.
Advertise | AdChoices

"You have to really look at it for a long time to figure out what you're looking at," Robinson said. For example, when it comes to the moon buggy he said, "if you squint really hard you can resolve the wheels and that the wheels are slightly turned to the left."

At first, scientists thought they had a bit of a mystery: They saw more stuff than they expected. It turned out to be packing material and an insulation blanket, Robinson said.

After 40 years there does not seem to be much moon dust covering the manmade trails. It probably will take about 10 million to 100 million years for dust to cover them, Robinson said.

The photos were released a few days after the debut of the new fictional movie "Apollo 18" and before Thursday's planned launch of NASA's twin robotic spaceships to explore the moon's gravity.
I have a question for those who are implying that the worlds space programs have been negligent on space junk" : WTF is your solution, limiting it to ones that don't cost more that the space programs themnselve do. Just an outline of an practical engineering solution would probably get you world wide fame.

Most of it will fall out of the sky withing a few decades due to orbital decay, trying not to replace it would be a good idea though

[Serik]

Here's a link to Kessler's description of the "Kessler syndrome," or what happens as debris collide with satellites and other debris to create even more debris.

http://webpages.charter.net/dkessler/files/KesSym.html


As is true for many environmental problems, the control of the orbital debris environment may initially be expensive, but failure to control leads to disaster in the long-term. Catastrophic collisions between catalogued objects in low Earth orbit are now an important environmental issue that will dominate the debris hazard to future spacecraft.

[dupersuper]

We need Magneto.

I'd rather go with Cosmic Boy, just to have it be in the hands of some one who won't kill us all with the debris.


This visualization show objects being tracked by NORAD. Each dot represents debris the size of a basketball or larger.

http://www.norcalblogs.com/watts/images/spacejunk_animation.gif

Objects much smaller than that have the potential to disable satellites or breach space stations.

I'm oddly amused that they bothered with the state borders.