It is getting harder and harder to get out of our planet’s atmosphere, because of space junk. From decaying satellite stations to rocket parts, there are tens of thousands of large and millions of small pieces floating around in our orbit like wildfire.
The International Space Station, the Hubble Telescope and thousands of satellites that are currently in service are under great threat, especially due to the micro-sized parts in our orbit. In order to solve this situation, scientists have been working on the subject for a long time. Finally, something promising happened.
We might be stranded on the planet’s surface because of the space junk!
The speeds of the satellites orbiting our world and sent to different layers vary according to their mission and the region they are located in. For example, if we position a satellite that we want to move in sync with the earth on the equator line, they move at different speeds, if we position them above the poles, they move at different speeds.
A representative image of space junk found around Earth
These satellites and rockets, which move at an average speed of 28 thousand kilometers per hour, become dangerous members of the space junk when their lifespan is over, when they fail or break apart as a result of an accident. Since it is relatively easy to detect tens of thousands of large debris, precautions can be taken some time in advance.
For this reason, it is said that the real danger is these micro-debris, the dimensions of which do not exceed a human tooth, that move at least 60 times faster than lead, that are almost impossible to detect and that number in the hundreds of millions. For this reason, it is said that all rockets sent to space in the 2030s will be at risk, and each rocket that explodes may make the space junk even more dangerous.
Debris detected by NASA according to their size
Due to this problem that threatens the future of space adventure, it is predicted that the world’s highest-paid companies in the next 50 years will be those who do space scavengers. But thanks to researchers at the University of Utah, this new industry, which is said to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars in research costs, may not be needed.
Will robots clean up space junk?
The head of the researchers, Jake J. Abbott, said in a statement that these objects wandering in space are very dangerous for humans and therefore a robot should be used. This robot, which uses special magnet systems, is planned to pull the pieces out of the orbit en masse, rather than trying to catch them one by one.
Another developed method found a way to make non-magnetic metals move by applying a changing magnetic field, which causes electrons in them to spin around. In this way, in addition to pushing it out of orbit, they will be able to pull it towards the atmosphere and burn it.
Thanks to this research, we will be able not only to clean up space junk, but also to use this technology in many different areas around the world. Many researchers and scientists are more sympathetic to this new research than to the project of capturing orbiting debris with the help of a net, which we have come across in the past.
What do you think about this subject? Don’t forget to share your views with us in the comments!
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