Space Junk - Blog Posts
Did a little thing of a jab unit on an alien planet. Not part of the story probably but just messin around.
you were more brilliant than the sun / you hurt my eyes / but even still, i couldn't help but stare
"From the Sun with Love" - NASA
nasa id: GSFC_20171208_Archive_e001551
my love for you is incomprehensible
nasa id: PIA21073
How much of a daily threat is "Space junk"?
Good question, as this is a serious issue and one which we must monitor constantly in order to avoid harmful impacts on the International Space Station with objects in space. For example, the US Space Command in Colorado is monitoring all objects bigger than a few inches in order to assess any potential impact with the Space Station. We categorize the chance of impact and if there is a high probability, we will actually use thrusters to slightly change the position of the Space Station to avoid the impact. If it is something that we are unable to avoid, we will have the astronauts shelter in place in their spacecrafts and in case of a catastrophic impact, they will return to Earth.
This has been something I've been concerned about for a long time. Not only are rocket emissions polluting our atmosphere, but residual space junk is starting to clog the space around our planet. Every tiny piece of metal and plastic that floats off into space can potentially destroy a future attempt to leave the planets surface. We are nailing our own coffin shut while trying to escape it. The universe is nature too! We need to try and keep it clean or else we will be as helpless as fish born into a polluted pond. We're already poisoning our planet, can we not poison space too?
How satellite space junk is adversely affecting the stratosphere?
Satellite space junk is polluting the stratosphere as disintegrating satellites release metals like aluminium and nitrogen oxides during re-entry. Studies show 10% of stratospheric aerosols now contain these metals, with emissions rising sharply - 3.3 billion grams in 2020 to 5.6 billion grams in 2022. Rocket launches further add pollutants like black carbon and chlorine gases, threatening ozone.