The threat of space junk harming property and people has sparked new legislation from NASA and the US Congress.
As first reported by Space.com, the move is likely motivated by the risks posed by giant satellites, as evidenced by Russia’s anti-satellite (ASAT) test last November. and threatened international space operations. station (ISS).
(Photo: Getty Images)
File Photo: 1992 – A spectacular view of the night launch of the Atlas rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Atlas family of launch vehicles consists of the Atlas Booster, Centaur Upperstage and 11 or 14 foot payload fairing. Fueled by a mixture of liquid oxygen and Rp-1, the Atlas family can launch payloads of 5,000 to 8,000 pounds.
A bipartisan bill introduced in Congress on Sept. 13 aims to address the problem of space debris. The Orbital Sustainability (ORBITS) Act is led by Senator Maria Cantwell, who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
“This bill will accelerate the development of the technology needed to remove the most dangerous junk before it destroys a satellite, crashes into a NASA mission, or falls to the ground and hurts someone. ” Cantwell said in a legislative statement.
If passed, the law will focus on creating a market for debris removal services and researching and demonstrating debris removal technology.
Project funded by NASA
On September 13th, NASA revealed it was sponsoring three programs aimed at combating orbital debris. A similarly early-stage initiative aims to quantify the economic and social problems posed by space debris.
The three projects are:
1. Adaptive Spatial Governance and Decision Support Using a Source-Sink Evolutionary Environment Model – This was suggested by Richard Linares and Daniel Wood of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Moriba Jar of the University of Texas at Austin.
2. Integrated evaluation model for satellite constellation and orbital debris – This was suggested by Akhil Rao of Middlebury College, Daniel Kaffine of the University of Colorado Boulder, and Brian Weeden of the Secure World Foundation.
3. Communication and Space Debris: Links to Public Knowledge and Identity – Suggested by Patrice Kohl, Sergio Alvarez, and Philip Metzger, University of Central Florida.
Also read: Germany and Japan followed the US in abandoning devastating anti-satellite tests
Can Space Junk Kill Someone?
A recent study published in Nature Astronomy calculated the likelihood of death from falling rocket debris over the next decade.
The authors used mathematical modeling of the tilt and trajectory of rocket segments in space, and the population density beneath them, to determine the position of rocket debris and other space debris as they fell to Earth, as well as a 30-year Calculated using satellite data.
Researchers have found small but significant harm from the return of space debris to Earth over the next decade. However, this is more likely to occur in southern rather than northern latitudes.
According to the study, rocket bodies are about three times more likely to collide at the latitudes of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Jakarta, Indonesia, or Lagos, Nigeria than New York, USA, Moscow, Russia, or Beijing, China.
The authors also estimated the risk to human life over the next decade from uncontrolled rocket reentry as ‘projected casualties’.
Researchers say there’s a 10% chance that a piece of a rocket will hit someone on Earth. At the same time, however, they said it was still a conservative estimate.
Related article: Japan plans to create a laser beam to eliminate satellite debris in space
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Written by Joaquin Victor Takula
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