Space Junk The Dangers of Polluting Earth's Orbit

Space Junk The Dangers of Polluting Earth's Orbit — page 7 — take images of Earth the moon and other objects in space Others study weather and atmospheric conditions on Earth Communications satellites relay TV telephone and radio signals from one location to another Some nations use satellites to gather military intelligence such as the location of ships and weapons depots in foreign countries Commanded by people on the ground satellites are equipped with computers cameras sensors and other instruments Rocket fuel batteries and solar panels provide them with the power they need to carry out their jobs and to travel through space Of the sixty-six hundred satellites launched into space since the late 1950s about one thousand are still functioning doing the jobs they were designed for About three thousand of these satellites stopped operating at some point and eventually fell back to Earth pulled down by orbital decay Of this group most completely burned up when they reentered Earth’s atmosphere But in a few cases debris from falling satellites has hit the ground although so far it hasn’t caused any serious damage on Earth The remaining twenty-six hundred nonoperational satellites are called zombies Like Cosmos 2251 they are out of fuel and out of communication with Earth But they will continue to orbit the planet until orbital decay pulls them down The higher they are in orbit the longer they will remain in space The zombies are so numerous that they endanger new functional satellites and other spacecraft Scientists use the term space junk to describe any human-made debris in space from the tiniest pieces of metal to intact but nonoperational satellites Zombie satellites are the largest pieces of space junk Other large pieces include the upper sections of the rockets used to launch spacecraft into orbit Smaller pieces of space junk include a glove that floated 8 SPACE JUNK

Space Junk The Dangers of Polluting Earth's Orbit — page 8 — That Burning Feeling When objects rub against one another a natural force called friction slows When objects rub against one another a natural force called friction slows them down Friction also creates heat When rockets boost satellites into them down Friction also creates heat When rockets boost satellites into orbit and when satellites fall out of orbit and reenter Earth’s atmosphere orbit and when satellites fall out of orbit and reenter Earth’s atmosphere they rub against the air The friction that results makes the satellites extremely hot sometimes causing them to burst into flames The same thing happens when asteroids and meteors chunks of metal and rock that fly through space hit Earth’s atmosphere Spacecraft that carry Sailors from the USS Anchorage retrieved the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Orion spacecraft top right following its splashdown in the Pacific Ocean in December 2014 after a two-orbit test flight The sailors maneuvered Orion into a chamber at the bottom of the ship which took the vehicle back to shore for reuse Orion is used to carry astronauts into space and back astronauts must be specially designed so that they don’t get too hot when they exit and reenter Earth’s atmosphere Engineers outfit these vehicles with heat-reflecting tiles insulation and Engineers outfit these vehicles with heat-reflecting tiles insulation and other equipment to keep them cool during exit and reentry Sometimes the other equipment to keep them cool during exit and reentry Sometimes the tiles and other materials fall off during spaceflight further adding to space tiles and other materials fall off during spaceflight further adding to space junk Some spacecraft reentering the atmosphere are aimed to land in the junk Some spacecraft reentering the atmosphere are aimed to land in the ocean which further cools them when they reach the surface of Earth ocean which further cools them when they reach the surface of Earth away from astronaut Ed White in 1965 when he became the first American to walk in space a tool kit that slipped from US astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper’s hand during a 2007 space walk and the thousands of pieces of debris from the Cosmos and Iridium crash Without a powerful telescope you can’t see zombie satellites or any other space junk But using high-tech equipment scientists can detect and monitor space junk as it orbits By 2011 scientists had identified twenty thousand pieces of junk in space and they expect this figure to triple by 2030 But those Zombies in Space 9

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