Harmful to the Earth? 30,000 pieces of space junk rotate in its orbit

Harmful to the Earth?  30,000 pieces of space junk rotate in its orbit

2024-02-21 18:48:51

Nearly 30,000 objects, often satellite debris, are currently orbiting the Earth, which might have consequences for the ozone layer and the climate.

Could observing space from Earth soon be difficult? This is what some astronomers fear due to the large amount of satellites flying in space, CNN reported.

Space junk wouldn’t help either. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States has taken samples of the stratosphere to try to assess the possible consequences of these objects in space.

“We can see the imprint of human space traffic on stratospheric aerosols,” Troy Thornberry, a research physicist at the Administration’s Chemical Sciences Laboratory, told the media.

Thus, nearly 10% of the particles in the Earth’s upper atmosphere contain pieces of metal that come from rockets or satellites that have fallen out of orbit. In coming decades, this debris might account for 50% of stratospheric aerosols, according to the report.

However, it is still difficult to know exactly what impact this debris will have on the ozone layer or the climate.

“We’re talking regarding constellations of thousands of satellites that each weigh regarding a ton and when they fall, they act like meteoroids,” Thornberry told CNN.

As of Wednesday, 8,299 satellites were in near-Earth orbit, according to data from the Orbiting Now website.

A solution to debris?

Space debris is increasingly being studied in order to find solutions to put an end to it.

“Today, it is impossible to attend a space conference without there being a panel or a series of discussions on the sustainability of space and the issue of debris,” Ron told the media. Lopez, president of the American branch of Astroscale.

His company, which originates from Japan, is looking into this issue of removing this debris and had even launched a satellite with a magnet in 2022 to see how to catch a moving target.

“We may move [les satellites]whether we refuel them or, in some cases, deorbit them to resolve the debris problem,” he said.

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