Earth to take in more junk, but we have enough

As if there isn’t enough junk on Earth already, more is expected from space soon. Don’t panic though, United States space officials say.

The National Air and Space Administration, Nasa, last week warned a dead-for six-years 20-year old satellite will scatter debris in six continents’ densely populated areas.

However, “Things have been re-entering ever since the dawn of the space age; to date nobody has been injured by anything that’s re-entered,” said Gene Stansbery, Nasa’s orbital debris section head.

Sure, the only person to have been hit by a piece of orbital junk, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, just sauntered home. The safety assertion, though, leans toward crooked thinking: Because it has never happened, it can’t happen.

The Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite isn’t a toy a la Soviet Union’s 1957 Sputnik, which weighed 83.6 kilograms. This one is a 47.25-cubic-metre cylinder weighing 5.9 metric tons.

On entering the Earth’s atmosphere, most of it will burn. On earth, the debris footprint is estimated at 800 kilometres. Nobody know how large the pieces will be or if the 1-in-3,200 chance the bits could hit someone will hold.

The satellite will have abandoned some 22,000 orbital “comrades” larger than four centimetres in diameter. All smaller than that are undetectable.

Their number is an estimated 500,000 though. Collisions keep on increasing the debris number. Their sizes get smaller. Over time, that’s a potential cloud of a fine smorgasbord of man-made materials.

The junk whirling at murderous velocities results from objects nations, Russia, the descendant of the Soviet Union, the United States, and China leading have shot into space.

The objects include satellites, rockets, capsules, missiles, rocket boosters, and observatories, lost tools, and possibly mice and monkeys, the usual victims of human experiments.

Most of this junk is aggregated primarily in the 600 km to 1,100 km orbital band. Unfortunately, this is where many communication satellites orbit as well.

At 27,000 kph velocity, even a fleck of paint can cause serious damage. There’s no need to elaborate on the havoc on earth were a communication satellite to collide with some junk.

Fortunately, the junk hasn’t led to human deaths. That’s because statistically, few venture into space. Near misses have occurred, though.

Several of the retired US shuttles returned to earth with small dents. On eleven occasions, the International Space Station has changed course to avoid a collision.

In June, astronauts scampered into Soyuz lifeboats when a junk got too close. Warning of the approach from earth reached them too late.

So far so good but concerns remain. Proposals on what to do with the junk verge on science fiction.

Ultimately, nobody knows the effects of this junk on earth. Remember the days developed nations spewed into the atmosphere seemingly harmless fumes only for the world to wake up to the global warming?

It’s time nations that aren’t contributing to space junk told those that are: In the event … you’ll pay, and have it in writing.