Kilbourne1 Brock Kilbourne English 2010-068 Professor Loreen Bessire October 29, 13 Space: Closing the Door.

Mans quest for what lies beyond has never been faltered, until of course the only frontier left to discover, was itself, the final one, space. Earth has been drilled and plumbed, we as humans take until there is no more to take. But then there is space, the glorious, heavenly, and mystifying wonder that has never been scared by the human touch. It only made sense that this is where our future lies after we pave the slow demise of this one. We waited; waited until our sciences opened the door to the skies. As we sent satellites, beacons, and humans skyward we cluttered outer space space like the neighbors garage. What if we were slowly closing the door we worked so hard to open? This clutter known as space junk, is deeming this question one we cannot afford to ignore. A lot is at stake; so let us indulge into the mechanics of why. October 4, 1957, the first step towards reaching this future was made. The Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite in the world. With this technical leap into the future came a large, hidden and ignored fact. The launch of a rocket requires fuel, in of which require fuel pods and booster stages. As sputnik broke the atmosphere it jettisoned its pods and began its orbit. Thus also began the topic of space junk. The idea was naturally ignored at first because of the magnitude of an event and the considered size of space itself. Little did the public know, these pods started to orbit the earth. Soon after, in 1961, the first human to travel into space was rocketed up. Naturally it took a bigger rocket with bigger stages, ultimately adding more to the now

Kilbourne2 small collection. With the Space-race coming in affect, that bundle was bound to grow exceedingly in a very short amount of time. As the missions increased, so did their size and complexity. With the Apollo missions in the 1960-1970s the game got significantly larger and would wow the world with their size in terms of breakthroughs and equipment. Space junk from these orbital missions include: jettisoned spacecraft parts, nuts and bolts, solar cells, abandoned satellites, paint chips, nuclear reactor cores, spent rocket stages, and solid fuel fragments. More so these massive booster rockets, set in stages, break off at a lower-stage in hopes to fall back to earth, but this was not the case for those in the upper-stage. These empty fuel pods where capable of breaking into hundreds of smaller pieces if detached wrong. In some cases left over upper-stage fuel pods and boosters retained quantities of fuel and vapour which sometimes, when heated by the sun, would create an explosion. According to Walter Flury of the European Space Agencys Space Debris Working Group, these events are the biggest source of space debris. Williamson states that this kind of blast has been happening since orbital debris began in the early years of the Space Age. The first of more than 170 identified events occurred on June 29, 1961, when an upper-stage booster used to launch the Transit 4A navigation satellite exploded. With this came 296-catalogued pieces of debris, 191 of these were still in orbit as of 2001(2). Vladimir Solovyov, head of Russias Mission Control, stated to The Associated Press that the debris from this junk colliding and exploding could orbit earth for up to 10,000 years. Since the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, more than 40 countries have launched approximately 28,000 objects into Earth's orbit. The lifetime of debris and the high risk for future events is hard to ignore.

Kilbourne3 Rocket fuel is probably the most surprising space junk floating in orbit given its volatility, and the amount of debris particles it can create . Derived from solid propellant rocket motors, these fuels were mixed with ground metal to enhance the performance of the boost. Upon exploding, the rocket fuel is possible of creating a wake of some 10^20 particles ranging in size from 0.1um to 10um. (Williamson 3). This biggest problem with this debris wasnt how much, but how fast. This solid fuel debris is capable of traveling at speeds and energy of a high power rifle bullet. In some cases a 1g particle can have the same energy as a one-ton car traveling ten m/s. these speeds, depending on debris size, could have fatal results. According to BBC.co.uk, a 1mm metal chip could do as much damage as .22 caliber long rifle bullet a pea-size ball moving at these speeds is as dangerous as a 400-lb safe traveling at 60m/h (Space Junk). Velocities like these are unimaginable because of the restrictions gravity plays on earth. To prove the danger of space junk the U.S. has sent up several test pods and modules to simply orbit the earth. They were test dummies with the soul purpose to get beat up for 5 years. Mark Williamson elaborates. According to the recovery Shuttles commander, the damage to the satellites thermal blankets made it look like a rolled up sardine can. Some experiment components were missing while others were barely hanging on, a solar cell module was unattached and floating nearby, and a mass of small particles circled the satellites midriff, glistening in the sunlight (Williamson 4). The 151 m surface of NASA's Long-Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was covered with more than 30,000 craters visible to the naked eye; 5000 of them had a diameter

Kilbourne4 larger than 0.5 mm(Crowther par.10.). NASA is constantly fixing damaged windows and body cells of the shuttle due to debris, which as you could imagine, arent very cheep. Some of our most awe-inspiring discoveries come from looking deep into space through the use of the Hubble Telescope and other such instruments to help us investigate and gather new information about our universe. These tools are constantly under repair due to debris impacts. With so many negatives one most always look for positives. Plans are being thought up but for right now there isnt much that can be done. All we can really do now is try and work around the space junk. Crowther explains that we should manage the risk by accepting that the frequency of occurrences will increase but configuring systems to limit the consequences of such encounters (par. 12). Secondly Crowther states, reducing the likelihood of these kinds of collisions is necessary, this can be accomplished by setting predetermined paths through the debris (Crowther). According to Mark Willaimson when satellites reach the end of their mission time, we need to develop and employ proper measures to maneuver them to appropriate disposal orbits, Willimason states, the only valuable idea for now is to make the equipment tougher and stronger, capable of withstanding such impacts therefore reducing the splatter effect. These measures, although small in comparison, can play a huge role in reducing the risk. Satellites play a bigger roll in our lives than most could even imagine. These satellites save lives, strengthen the economy and provide invaluable support to the military and intelligence services(Black 1). Daily life and the conveniences we have all come to accept as standards and normalitys; GPS services to find our favorite coffee shops and stores, cell phone service to stay in constant contact with those near and far, Video media services to watch movies and skype with friends, and even the weather

Kilbourne5 reports we have all come to rely on just to name a few. All of these amenities are run from satellites floating in an invisible clutter above our heads. Take away just one of those permanently and try to imagine the impact it could have on all of us. Now remove them all. Now space junk seems to be a clear issue worthy of being addressed. All in all the reality is that something needs to be done and soon. The BBC states there are over one million pieces (bbc.co.uk) of debris. This number is growing yearly. Of that million, a substantial portion is capable of causing fatal damage. With dozens of new satellites being launched every year, all of which carry an important mission to help preserve the intricate systems we rely on, these numbers are bound to grow significantly. In a worst case scenario, researches say a cascade effect could come in to play in where the spread of debris through launches, collisions, explosions, etc. could ultimately lead to the closure of some of the most popular orbits within the next 50 years, essentially sending us back in time. The future of space travel and exploration for development could become off-limits. The BBC states, Just as we have created rubbish mountains on Earth, we've also accumulated a blanket of junk around the Earth (bbc.co.uk). Looking to the sky for answers may become something of the past.

Kilbourne6 Works Cited Crowther, Richard. "Space JunkProtecting Space for Future Generations." Science 17 May 2002: 1241-242. "Space Junk: Satellite Collision Adds to Garbage Circling Earth." Weekly Reader Corp 2 Mar. 2009: n. pag. Web. Black Samuel & Butt Yousaf, The growing threat of space debris, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March/april 2010, vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 18. Space Junk. BBC.co.uk. British Broadcasting Channel. 30 December 2006 Williamson, Mark. "Space Junk Makes An Impact." Rev. of Space Debris. IEE Review Jan. 2006: 40-44. Print.