AFP Photo / ESA
Space junk threatens life on Earth
Published 16 October, 2008, 15:59
Edited 08 October, 2009, 06:02
Thousands of pieces of trash are in orbit around the Earth, posing a danger not only to space traffic but to the well-being of the entire Blue Planet. NASA says the space rubbish – mostly tools and bits of old satellites – are a major hazard.
NASA estimates that 13,000 “large” space objects (more than 10cm long) are circling the Earth. Only 950 of these are functioning. More 200,000 objects sized between one and 10cm are in orbit, including various tools that astronauts lost during repair works. Another 70-80 million tiny fragments hover around the bigger ones.
Some of the objects contain substances which could pose a threat to human life if they leak into the Earth's ecosystem.
Other larger bits of debris will not fully burn up if they enter the Earth's atmosphere and may cause severe problems when they land.
However, the threat doesn't only lie on Earth. There have been incidents of “space rubbish” hindering man’s strive towards the final frontier. In 1996, the French spaceship “Arian” bumped into a satellite, damaging it.
To prevent a similar incident, the International Space Station had to perform a complicated manoeuvre in 2001, in order to escape a collision with a metal support stand left in space by a previous crew.
The cluttered state of the Earth's stratosphere is also a worry for ecologists. Some suggest that, eventually, it will block the entry of sunlight.
The second front
The rubbish threat is not limited to space itself. Every year, dozens of spacecraft find their final resting place at the “space cemetery” in the Pacific Ocean. Amongst them, the disused space station MIR and various disused spaceships, such as the cargo ship Progress M-59.
The world's space agencies claim that the disposal of disused space objects in this manner is not harmful for the environment. Moreover, the “cemetery” is located in a remote area of the Pacific Ocean which is far away from shipping routes and populated areas.
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