In the news: space junk

This week, the US government issued its first report Company fined for leaving space junk in space. Why is space debris a problem? The space is a pretty big place. The problem is that even a small piece of space junk left behind can cause massive damage if it collides with a spacecraft or another piece of junk.

Humans have been launching rockets and satellites for the last 70 years. That’s a long time for space junk to accumulate.

Launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center as seen from the observation seats.

What is space debris?

space debris It is anything that humans have left in space. This includes satellites that no longer function, rocket boosters, and smaller pieces of debris that have fallen from rockets.

Debris in lower orbits often returns naturally to Earth after a few years and burns up in the atmosphere. However, there are some reports of Space debris reaches the surface.. The more often this happens, the more likely it is to cause harm to humans on the ground.

Debris in higher orbits is a bigger problem, as it takes centuries to reach Earth’s atmosphere. This poses a risk not only to future space exploration, but also the risk of collisions increases the more debris accumulates.

When collisions between space debris occur, even more debris is created.

There is also a risk of explosions in orbit due to leftover fuel and batteries.

Clean Up Space – STEM Challenge

I created a STEM challenge to encourage children to think about the space debris problem and how it can be solved. The activity includes three pages to guide children through designing, creating a prototype, and thinking about potential problems with space debris cleanup. device before presenting a final version of your creation.

Possible methods to clean up space debris

Launch space debris removal vehicles with huge nets, bags, harpoons or giant magnets to catch space junk and bring it back to Earth or take it to a low enough orbit to burn up.
Reduce the speed of satellites so that they fall naturally to a lower orbit.
A tracking system to track objects of a given size.

Remember, space junk travels very fast.

What is the Kessler effect?

He Kessler effect It is a scenario in which the number of objects in low Earth orbit reaches a level where a chain reaction of collisions occurs, generating more debris and more collisions. This will eventually create so much debris that it will be very difficult to safely launch future rockets and satellites.

If we think about all the ways we depend on satellites for our daily lives, this would be catastrophic for the modern world.

The Kessler effect was first proposed in 1978 by a NASA scientist. Donald J. Kessler.

Discover more

Read about it rocket history. Did you know that the first rocket experiments were carried out 2,000 years ago?

Humans have left enough garbage on the moon!

Read about it RemoveDebris Project.

Don’t forget to check out my full collection of space science experiments. You can make and launch rockets, learn about Newton’s laws of motion, and much more.