Earth is the only home known to mankind. Still, we have polluted Earth to a great extent. Even the space around it is no cleaner! The ‘space waste’ or ‘space trash’ has enveloped the planet, if this goes on, space waste can pose a real problem.
Damaging Space crafts
Space trash or waste is residual objects left out from space exploration missions and artificial satellites. These remaining objects in space no longer have any useful purpose left. Since the first journey of mankind into space in 1957, we have launched about 4000 satellites in outer space.
About 500,000 pieces of space waste are orbiting the Earth. Many of them travel at speeds up to 35,000 km/h. It is fast enough for a relatively small piece of orbital debris to damage International Space Station, space shuttles and other spacecraft with humans aboard. The space tourism industry is also greatly affected by this waste.
Even a tiny fleck of paint traveling at such a speed is capable of boring a quarter-inch hole into the window of the International space station.
Future Disaster
This could pose a big problem in future. With accelerating space explorations there will be increasing space waste. When there is so much garbage out there things cannot function properly. The space waste if left untreated will continue damaging space crafts with valuable lives at stake. Damaging space crafts would mean damaging communication on earth and if that happens the whole world will come to a stand still.
GPS won’t work, more importantly, the defenses of the countries will be severely affected. Some countries will even take advantage hence war will break out. Even terrorist organizations will use this opportunity.
With rapidly increasing space waste, the point of no return is not that far. Everything will slip away and all the work humans did for eons will come to dust.
Concerned World
There are some missions which focus on dead satellites. There is also some increasing discussion on using lasers or stick to them with adhesive. Some aim to catch them with robotic arms or spear them with harpoons or slow them with sails or tethers. It’s all an effort to keeping low-Earth orbit, the region up to 1,200 miles from the surface. It is important to take care of Space Waste before its too late!
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