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We Have to Clean Up Outer Space Now in Order to Safely Launch New Spacecraft

Posted by HAL9000 on September 3, 2011

Space JunkVia the BBC:

Scientists in the US have warned NASA that the amount of so-called space junk orbiting Earth is at tipping point. A report by the National Research Council says the debris could cause fatal leaks in spaceships or destroy valuable satellites.

It calls for international regulations to limit the junk and more research into the possible use of launching large magnetic nets or giant umbrellas. The debris includes clouds of minuscule fragments, old boosters and satellites.

Some computer models show the amount of orbital rubbish “has reached a tipping point, with enough currently in orbit to continually collide and create even more debris, raising the risk of spacecraft failures,” the research council said in a statement on Thursday.

More on the BBC

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  • Wanooski

    Where’s half section when you need them?

  • Wanooski

    Double post!

  • News

    We not only pollute our earth, but the space around us. LOL at humans!

  • Louis Merrigan

    Mine the space junk.

  • DeepCough

    Look on the bright side: at least we won’t have to worry about an alien invasion.

  • Wanooski

    Why? They’d prolly have shields and advanced debris negating systems and such.

  • Anonymous

    And that’s before you count all the frozen piss they’ve been flushing out of the rockets all these years.

  • Grouperdogamo

    Its hopeless….

  • Wanooski

    Now you know how ecologists feel!

  • Toxiczen

    Thr Rifts role playing game was right!

  • ICE

    Its our planet bling.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Bobbie-Jean-Pentecost/100000391760333 Bobbie Jean Pentecost

    Aliens: Well at least those ignorant little monkeys can’t fuck up outer space….
    Humans: Challenge accepted.

  • The guest

    Listen to the media parrots repeat everything Obama says. The phrase of the month is “tipping point”. Be prepared to hear it used to describe everything from Syrian unrest to junk floating around in space.

  • Andrew

    I’ve been hearing “tipping point” used for a few years before I hear Obama use it.

  • Yith

    Ever used Google ngram?  It’s a handy tool!

  • Wanooski

    Well, see there are these things called tipping points, they do actually describe certain scenarios.

  • Yith

    I have a conspiracy theory:  the Chinese government knew what it was doing when it blew up that satellite.  It knew that it would vastly increase the amount of space debris (how could it not?), thereby impeding future U.S. space missions by requiring the U.S. to “clean up the mess” some time in the near future.  And why would they do this?  Because several companies in the U.S. are poised to mine the moon for “rare earth elements” (e.g. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/08/business/la-fi-moon-venture-20110408 ); and these happen to be the same elements on which China has cornered the market (see http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rare-earths-are-vital-and-china-owns-them-all-2009-09-24 ).   My evidence for this?  None at all.  I’m not one to believe in conspiracies… but I do enjoy watching people become seduced by them; I think, however, that it is a cooler conspiracy than those held by truthers and birthers!

  • Yith

    A few hours after I posted this, I discovered neat article about the national security implications of mining the moon:  http://lunarscience.arc.nasa.gov/articles/is-mining-rare-minerals-on-the-moon-vital-to-national-security

  • http://www.ContraControl.com/ Zenc

    I’m not sure I buy this story.

    It’s a little too convenient that we’ve basically shut down our own manned space missions, the Russians have put theirs on hold, and there’s talk of mothballing the ISS all in such a short span of time.

    This smacks more of “sour grapes” or some sort of “justification” than any real emergency. Not saying we can’t break our Earth orbits, but I’m always suspicious of convenient timing.

  • CosmicAmazing

    Maybe all that “junk” will block some of that harmful sunlight and stop global warming. I bet Bill Gates is launching his trash into space right now, and anyone that makes it past the mesosphere gets a free copy of Windows.

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