FYI Space Junk Problem

[CageSage]

I saw some queries re space junk on the chat page for last night's pop-ups and was surprised that people don't know just what's up there.
And the problems it may cause -- knocking out the comms sats, destroying the surface of the solar arrays on ISS, for a start. Even paint chips moving at speed can crack the carbon-fibre screens when coming from the right acute angle.
A lot has been 'cleaned up' recently by forcing some pieces into burning up in the atmosphere, but many pieces don't burn up completely.
However, if we ever get invaded by aliens, maybe the junk will act as a forcefield of sorts ...

ARES | Orbital Debris Program Office | Frequently Asked Questions

orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov

and if you need a clearer picture:

ARES | Orbital Debris Program Office | Photo Gallery

orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov

and in context:

Space debris by the numbers

The latest figures related to space debris, provided by ESA's Space Debris Office at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.

www.esa.int

 

[Nikky Lee]

However, if we ever get invaded by aliens, maybe the junk will act as a forcefield of sorts ...

This could make a great story!

 

[CageSage]

This could make a great story!

I did put it in a story, but no one believed it!
It's sad that we not only pollute the planet but all the space surrounding the planet -- how do we get off in the worst case scenario if we're blocked in by the ring of junk?
Although, there's work being done to try magnets to get the tinier bits into a larger ball so they can toss it into the burn-up zone of the atmosphere. I wonder if they're trying to make a path out?
Even a speck of sand at space speed is a high-risk element to space-walks.

When I used to 'sit' in the desert regions at night, it was fun to count how many 'mini shooting stars' hit the ground. And there is noise -- these things whistle until they hit with a thonk. If the ground moves, so do the campers.
Camels go berserk if there's more than one or two. The stockies (aka cowboys) have places they avoid because the geology seems to attract artefacts.

 

[Nikky Lee]

I did put it in a story, but no one believed it!

Surprising, this is one of those things I assumed was general knowledge (aparently not so!). Was it the movie Gravity that had a piece of space junk rip through the space station? Or am I thinking of another movie?

The stockies (aka cowboys) have places they avoid because the geology seems to attract artefacts.

Ooo, great story fodder

 

[CageSage]

Was it the movie Gravity that had a piece of space junk rip through the space station?

Yep, that's the movie, but that was a big bit of junk. They can see them coming. It's the small bits, the more than 128.9 million bits smaller bits that don't get a mention. Those are the ones that no sensor picks up, and you won't see them coming. This enemy is of our own making, and it doesn't need a brain to kill.
The definition of irony: billions spent to test spacecraft in order to escape the planet (because we can't keep it clean enough), and can't get off because of the ring of steel and refuse from those tests.

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Depressing. And fascinating about the 'stockies'. In which desert? We had a meteor shower the other night, 12 November, the Urseids, but a shooting star, did I read, could just be space junk burning up on entry. And it might even be a space poo from a human.

 

[CageSage]

which desert?

Great Sandy, Gibson, Little Sandy, Canning, bits of Great Victorian Desert (the bit in Western Australia) - used to work with a Geo team, and we often joined camps with the stockies in the regions (lots of gossip info from those fellas).
Late in October, I saw a shooting star, a big one, but nothing was mentioned for asteriods or meteors or any junk disposal (not even poo-packets!). The showers for October were not set for the date it happened, and it wasn't in the news, but it was big and bright and unexpected. Was I the only person out at that time of night?

 

[Victoria Bastedo]

I saw some queries re space junk on the chat page for last night's pop-ups and was surprised that people don't know just what's up there.
And the problems it may cause -- knocking out the comms sats, destroying the surface of the solar arrays on ISS, for a start. Even paint chips moving at speed can crack the carbon-fibre screens when coming from the right acute angle.
A lot has been 'cleaned up' recently by forcing some pieces into burning up in the atmosphere, but many pieces don't burn up completely.
However, if we ever get invaded by aliens, maybe the junk will act as a forcefield of sorts ...

ARES | Orbital Debris Program Office | Frequently Asked Questions

orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov

and if you need a clearer picture:

ARES | Orbital Debris Program Office | Photo Gallery

orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov

and in context:

Space debris by the numbers

The latest figures related to space debris, provided by ESA's Space Debris Office at ESOC, Darmstadt, Germany.

www.esa.int

Wow, I didn't know about this as an increasing problem.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

As we're in outer space, did you know that someone is buried on the moon?

The Only Man to Be Buried on the Moon

 

[Victoria Bastedo]

As we're in outer space, did you know that someone is buried on the moon?

The Only Man to Be Buried on the Moon

How interesting! No. I would NOT want to be buried, all alone, on the moon.

 

[Hannah F]

As we're in outer space, did you know that someone is buried on the moon?

The Only Man to Be Buried on the Moon

Gosh!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Golf balls on the moon. And a bag of sick, at least one

Desecration of Artemis.

UK has signed up to a protocol for a future code of conduct on the Moon. But NASA is still, um, a few key signatures short.

 

[Hannah F]

The Clangers and the Soup Dragon have known about space junk for decades!