Space Debris Illustrated: The Problem in Pictures

I've just recently uploaded a few pictures of Earth that were e-mailed to me;
Our planet
and it got me thinking about some photos I'd seen in a book many years ago and I was doing a search for them when I came across this web site.

This is stunning information when you consider the amount of work that is currently going on in Earths near orbit. not only have we polluted our land, air and oceans, we are progressively polluting our entry/exit points to and from outer space.

this will surely hinder any future space programmes.

Here's a few pics as to the extent of the proiblem and I'll leave the link to the site below;



Space debris illustrated

I wonder what the salvage rights/laws on this stuff would be? I mean some of these, at least early junk, used expensive and exotic materials. Maybe a company would find it useful/profitable to start a cleanup.

Space scavenging and recycling.???

you forget that there is depth to space and it is vast, when they simply paint a satellite for every tracked object is misleading. they track very small objects I can't remember what the smallest size is.
if you were to view the video from the space shuttle window there isn't any space junk to be had.

reply to post by NGC2736


logically, any debris left in space only to stay there or burn up in Earths atmosphere on re-entry is classed as abandoned property.

Therefore anyone who is able to lay claim to that property will have salvage rights.
It's the same principle for ocean going salvage. If you find a ship in open seas, and you can drag it back to shore, then you own all salvage rights on it, but if you found the same object whithin the borders of a country, then you can't really touch it.

But can you imagine the size of a salvage ship for just all our junk in space.
To make it viable, you'd have to, not only have a ship strong enough to scoop this stuff up, but also be abel to strip down the materials there in space.

It would be far too costly just to send all the scrap down as you find it. It would be far better to be selective in what you send back to Earth.

As for any left overs, you got a few options. Use the scrap to build other craft for space exploration/travel/moon bases or you can add it to your current salvage ship.

And imagine all the stuff that is nuclear powered? How do you deal with that?
It's not as though space does not already have a high radiation count. Bringing decayed craft onto your own is a very risky business.

Just goes to show how profits come before the lives, health and safety of our childrens children... those who will inherit this mess from us.

reply to post by Extralien


Oh, I agree it would have it's hazards, for sure. But that's never stopped people before. And if a lunar colony were in place, it might really be profitable. Manufactured metals could be worthwhile, along with the technology and precious metals. (And maybe a coalition of space faring governments adding a bonus for removing hazards???)

It would be ironic if one of the first profitable businesses in near space were salvage and recycling.



[edit on 10-7-2008 by NGC2736]

That would seem to be the most favourable idea, a spacial spring clean before getting down to the serious business of transporting people and materials to the moon for projects.

Seeing as this space debris varies from a few microns to huge tonnage, you can, at least, be selective in what and how you collect stuff.

For dead sattelites, you're going to need a ship big enough to handle more than one sattelite at a time, but for the much smaller stuff, you may find that placing large electro magnets around your ship on tethers might be more effective than a catch net or scoop.

a lot of this stuff is moving at great speed, others are in a static orbit. Either way, any ship going up there now has to be more cautious.

In the site linked it tells yoiu how many times the space shuttles have had to have new windows due to bumps with debris.

All very fine and dandy being an astronaut, not only have you got the rush of a liftoff and re-entry, but you gotta worry about something you can't see ripping through the hull or your suit.

And now this has happened;

Orbiting satellites collide

and discussed again here

I think the illustrations are a bit over the top. All that junk is metal in nature, and would be reflecting sunlight, and turn our dusk and pre sunrise dawn skies into a spunky sparklie light show.

I see it as the same line given about crowded airspace. Dont see a plethora of aircraft filling up every square mile of airspace.



Cheers!!!!

Originally posted by Extralien
And now this has happened;

Orbiting satellites collide

and discussed again here

Again, with all that supposedly floating junk up there...thats been there for decades...suddenly a smash and burn.

Aint no accident IMO, as I stated in the other thread.



Cheers!!!!

Originally posted by Extralien
reply to post by NGC2736

 

Therefore anyone who is able to lay claim to that property will have salvage rights.
It's the same principle for ocean going salvage. If you find a ship in open seas, and you can drag it back to shore, then you own all salvage rights on it, but if you found the same object whithin the borders of a country, then you can't really touch it.

Unless it's military, sunken frigates belong to there country, regardless of where they are found, i presume it'd be the same for the satts