Space Pollution: Speed Breaker for Future Space Programs

We see various types of garbage around us, whether it is solid or carcinogens, can be made from chemicals containing, waste materials, e-waste or radioactive waste. The different types of garbage and problems regarding the same are now becoming a headache for all the countries. E-waste and its disposal have become a new serious problem in developed or in a developing country like India and China.
In it, the new space junk is growing, which means the space debris. The countries that took part in the space program are on the way to face a new monster which will freeze the future space programs called as Space Pollution. 

Space pollution means the collection of debris in orbit around the Earth, made up of used or damaged rocket boosters, in the most general sense, the term space pollution includes both the natural small meteoroid and man-made debris caused due to carelessness of astronauts and space programs. 

I do not think it will directly affect to ordinary people as the space waste is formed around the Earth, outside the Earth's atmosphere. So common people like you and me are still unknown about it.

How does the space junk get created?

In 1957, Soviet Russia sent the first artificial satellite to the space, and started new era of science. After that, the US also jumped as a contestant. After that, 53 countries, including England, Canada, Italy, France, China and India, have left more than 6,500 different types of satellites with or without the help of other countries.

There has been an increase in the number of space campaigns over the past few years, as well as the amount of space wastage in the sky. Scientists have warned that the problem of space waste will be very intense, so it will be impossible to plan the future space missions.

In all these campaigns, different types of launchers or rockets are used. In three to four phases, there is an oxidizing fuel in the rocket. When a phase burn occurs, that part of the rocket separates from the main part and the next stage begins to combust. If it is located above 160 kilometers of Earth, it usually does not return to Earth. So, they keep revolving around the globe at the height. So far more than 250 manned space missions have been made.

Space Junk at higher altitude around the earth (Computer generated graphics based on real time tracking)

An accident occurs when crossing or moving at a high level often, and the explosion of the rocket increases, thus increasing the space-span. In some human campaigns, there are some incidents that have escaped from the control when some equipment is running Space Walk. Eg. The famous astronaut Sunita Williams had a camera while she was walking the space, somehow the camera separated from her module and it is now rotating around the Earth's orbit.

Researchers at the European Space Agency have warned. “There is a large number of small fragments currently moving in the space around the Earth. So, there is no much space available in space. In spite of that, still the waste is being created in space. If it waste continues to grow with current rate, then the possibility of space collisions can increase by 25 percent. Therefore, it will be impossible to launch new satellite or new space program around the earth, "said the European Space Agency's scientist.

Space Junk at LEO (Computer generated graphics based on real time tracking)

Attention is also being highlighted mainly in the area of ​​800 to 965 kilometers belt around the earth. The dead satellites or bigger pieces should reach the Earth's atmosphere. When they enter the Earth's atmosphere, they will automatically get burnt due to friction with atmospheric air.

A groundnut size piece, which is fast moving in space, can do more harm than a grenade explosion. In addition, more than 17,000 pieces of coffee cups are present. Space agencies are planning to destroy these pieces together. Estimates for the space junk are just about 30 million debris between 1 mm and 1 cm, over 100,000 debris between 1 and 10 cm, and 8,800 objects larger than 10 cm.

Earth orbits:

Low Earth orbit (LEO) is defined as orbital altitudes below 2,000 km above the earth's surface. Middle Earth orbit (MEO) is the province of the Global Positioning System (GPS) in addition to Russian navigation satellite systems with is located at approximately 20,000-km altitude, whereas the geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) "belt" is occupied primarily by communication satellite and Earth—observation payloads about 36000 km. The path of objects about the earth in these orbital regions are in circular or near-circular orbits. The elliptical orbit class contains rocket bodies left in their transfer (payload delivery) orbits to MEO and GEO with scientific, communications.

Types of space Debris:

Debris is typically divided into three size ranges, based on the damage it may cause: 

1. Less than 1 centimeter (cm), 

2. 1 to 10 cm in size

3. Larger than 10 cm. 

Objects less than 1 cm may be shielded, but they still have the potential to damage the satellites. Debris in the 1 to 10 cm range is not shielded, also cannot easily be observed, and could demolish a satellite. Finally, impacts with objects larger than 10 cm can destroy the satellite and add more junk in space. Of these size ranges, only objects 10 cm and larger are tracked and observed by surveillance networks in the United States. . Estimates for the populations are just about 30 million debris between 1 mm and 1 cm, over 100,000 debris between 1 and 10 cm, and 8,800 objects larger than 10 cm.

 

 Space losses:

• On July 12, 1989, England sent Olympus Olympus - 1, the largest communication satellite of that time, was destroyed due to a small asteroid attack. 

• On July 24, 1996, France's small artificial espionage microprocessor satellite (Cerise) was destroyed due to a fragment of Arian Rocket. 

• A satellite named Russia's Express AM11, in 2006, changed the orbit when it was hit by unknown object, mostly another space junk piece.

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Space: Universe of Pollution: https://amzn.to/2YSm0k0

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