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Transforming Orbit Into A Wasteland

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the use-the-force-luke dept.

I found an article (Yes, the article is now 404) in the CNN Space section this morning, talking about a recent report at a UN Conference on space. The author of the reporter alleges that programs like Star Wars and the like would basically turn LEO ? into a "wasteland" for satellites for decades or even centuries. And the wonderful part is that NASA's Off ice for Orbital Debris will close in October, due to budget cuts, despite 10s of thousands of already existing debris. Yah. Have fun with space tourism!Update: 04/23 19:14 GMT by H : It appears that the CNN article was pulled - I can't seem to find it - but Space.com had another report on the subject. And Space.com has also the updated story that CNN was linking to - and the update may be why it was pulled, because it appears that the Office for Space Debris may have some salvation yet.

6 of 247 comments (clear)

  1. On the other hand by wiredog · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If someone launched several nukes at the US, and the US (lacking an interceptor system) launched a retaliatory strike, would we give a damn about the condition of low earth orbit?

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  2. not really by delphin42 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "The author of the reporter alleges that programs like Star Wars and the like would basically turn LEO into a 'wasteland' for satellites for decades or even centuries."

    The article actually said that if other countries responded to programs like Star Wars by dumping tiny bits of space junk (gravel, marbles, or the like) to destroy satelites, causeing more space junk and destroying more satelites, etc, etc then the result would be a LEO wasteland. Putting a satellite in orbit doesn't necessarily increase space debris. Attacking satellites in orbit, on the other hand, does.

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    -- Adam
  3. NASA may be redundant here... by kbonin · · Score: 3, Insightful
    It should be noted that NORAD currently does a great deal of the work in this field, possibly making NASA's role redundant. I couldn't find a direct NORAD link, but here's one of their subcontractors that mentions they do some of the actual work at NORAD.

    There are also a number of reports of the shuttle having to maneuver away from debris, such as here, its worth noting that the warning came from "U.S. Space Command", i.e. NORAD, not NASA's orbital debris office.

    So some NASA PHB may think that NORAD's tracking is sufficient, and the money is better spent keeping the billion dollar dinosaur shuttle program flying...

  4. Space exploration is dead. by meepzorb · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's a sad truth I have recently come to realize: Manned Space exploration as a major human endeavor is basically dead.

    The left has no interest in it, since space exploration has no apparent humanitarian value. The right has no interest (outside of defense) since it's a money pit. And the private sector has no interest in it since there's no obvious way to make a profit from it.

    If access to orbit somehow became cheap enough to be afforable to those who operate under different motivations and priorities, this might change, but given current aerospace and cultural trends I dont see that happening anytime soon.

  5. Re:Reread, Hemos by skroz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Your assumption is incorrect. A piece of dirt the size of a grain of sand could cripple the shuttle or any other orbiting body. Bullets (ok, small ones) are right around the 1 cubic centimeter range, and they kill people travelling only around 700 miles an hour. These pieces of debris are travelling in excess of 15000 miles per hour; they'll punch a hole through lots of things. Heat shielding, windows, astronauts...

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  6. This again? by sunking2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Stop being paranoid. You are far more likely to be run over by a stampeding elephant outside your house than you currently are of being struck by space debris (assuming you were in space).

    If you could collect all of the crap floating around in in orbit it probably wouldn't even fill a small landfill. You drive around in a car don't you? Rush hour traffic is a tad more congested than orbit is or will be in the distant future.

    Those are great scary little pictures that they put up showing all the garbage forming a ring around the Earth. Of course those dots are probably 1000000 times larger than they are in real life, but they do a good job of scaring people.

    Naturally these things need to be tracked but only for determining new orbits that need to be taken. By the time a cleanup is really needed technology will be able to present a viable solution. I don't see the point in spending millions/billions a year trying to solve it now and it certainly isn't worth losing sleep over.