what is space debris & removal of space debris

1. SPACE DEBRIS
Problems, Risks Posed, Addressing
the Problem,possible solutions
TANVEER SHAIKH

2. A Greener Planet?
• Every year, in almost every country around the world, people do their
part to clean up our Earth.
• Recycling programs are everywhere, and whether our involvement is
large or small, we all contribute to help make our home a better
place.
• But what about our Earth’s home? Who is looking out for outer
space?

3. WHAT IS SPACE DEBRIS?
 Space debris is also called orbital
debris, space junk and space waste.
 They can include anything from entire
used rocket stages and defunctioning
satellites to explosion fragments,
paint flakes, dust, slag from solid
rocket motors, coolant released by
RORSAT also known in the west as
Radar Ocean Reconnaissance
Satellite,nuclear powered satellites,
deliberate insertion of small needles,
and other small particles from
equipment.

4. Why is this bad?
• “Sandblasting” or erosive damage,
can occur on objects that are both
being used and unused when they
come into contact with clouds of
very small particles in space.
• Collisions can be highly damaging to
functioning satellites due to the
extremely high orbital velocities at
which this “junk” travels. Some
debris has been recorded moving
along at 17,500 mph! Collisions are
also known to produce even more
space debris.

5. Much About Space Debris
 22000 pieces of space junk in space.
 Pieces of 4 inches or longer combined
weigh 5500 tons
 Solar flare-ups can cause space junk
 Every 11 years Flare-ups turn
communication satellites into space junk

6. BEFORE….. AFTER

7. Space is Running Out in Space
• Space is more and more crowded
resulting in collisions between
spacecraft, satellites and junk.
• Need air traffic control
• May take a major collision to get
countries to work on this

8. Unplanned Spacewalk to Target Solar-Panel Problem
• Astronauts working on equipment run risk of getting hit by space
junk
• Spacesuit could get pierced and lose air.
• Spacewalks last from 5-7 hours…making risks great

9. Much Ado About Space Debris
• 50 years ago: no space junk
• Now: 25,000 pieces to the size of baseball or larger
• 10,000 have re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere
• Most space junk burns on the way to Earth
• Junk is potentially harmful if it doesn’t burn before hitting the
Earth
• Junk could hit spacecraft

10. What Was that Light in the Sky?
• One night an eye-catching
flashed across the night sky
• Fireball
• NORAD tracks pieces of
space junk including
screwdrivers and astronaut
gloves. They determined
that it was not space junk

11. Litter Kings
• U.S. produced 3,176 pieces of space junk that
are in orbit
• Russia produced 2,917 pieces
• China has produced 1,822 pieces
• 85% of new junk will orbit 100 years laterSpent
Rocket boosters are difficult to eliminate
• Soviet Space Station junk from cosmonauts
could have been stopped.
Several countries have caused space junk

12. One Giant Skip for Mankind
• Space travel has turned
the universe into a
dump
• Junk increasing
• Many sources

13. Possible Solutions
•Alternate Orbit: Sometimes it would
require too much fuel to de-orbit a satellite from its path. In these
cases, it can also be brought to an orbit where atmospheric drag would
cause it to de-orbit after some years.
• This has been done! The French Spot-1 satellite, brought its time to
atmospheric reentry down from an estimated 200 years to about 15
years.

14. MORE SOLUTIONS
• When a satellite has completed its task, it could be brought
back down to Earth where it could be properly disposed of
and/or recycled.
• This could be done with the use of a "terminator tether," also
called an “electro-dynamic tether” that is rolled out, and slows
down the spacecraft.

15. ACTIVE DEBRIS REMOVAL TECHNIQUES
This kind of Roger use throw-nets to capture
its target, and it has 20 nets.

16. ACTIVE DEBRIS REMOVAL TECHNIQUES
It uses tentacles to capture targets.
If there is an incapacitated
SATELLITE the ROGER
spacecraft will approach the
malfunctioning satellite with its
boom and deploy IT.
The satellite will be captured by the fingers
and then towed away .

17. Electrodynamic tethers project
• HOW IT WORKS.

18. The technical challenges
• the ability to safely capture a target
• the number of target satellites within a multiple target mission is
limited
• control both the ROGER satellite and the tandem "ROGER plus target
satellite"
• the supervision, control and eventually tele-manipulation of ROGER
from ground

19. The number of space debris increases very quickly .

21. CONCLUSION
• Is space debris just another over hyped
scientific issue, or could this really become a
larger problem in the future?
• Should we leave it all up there, or take the
time and money to bring it down?
• THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS WE NEED
TO ASK OURSELVES & START CLEANING
IT.

23. Refrence: http://www.nasa.gov/
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/space_junk.htm
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http:/www.space.com/scienceastronomy/planetear
th /space_junk_