News Excerpt:
A Russian satellite, Resurs P1, broke apart on June 26, generating over 100 pieces of trackable debris in low Earth orbit.
More About the incident:
- It occurred around 12 p.m. Eastern time, according to a statement from U.S. Space Command (USSPACECOM) on June 27.
- The cause of the breakup was not specified.
- The debris posed a brief threat to the International Space Station, prompting the crew to take shelter.
- USSPACECOM reported no immediate threats from the debris.
- They are also conducting routine conjunction assessments to ensure the safety and sustainability of space operations.
- LeoLabs, a company that monitors low Earth orbit using a global network of radars, reported the event on social media.
What is Space Debris?
- Space Junk, or Space Debris, is any piece of machinery or debris left by humans in space.
- It can refer to big objects such as dead satellites that have failed or been left in orbit at the end of their mission. It can also refer to smaller things, like bits of debris or paint flecks that have fallen off a rocket.
- Some human-made junk has been left on the Moon, too.
What risks does Space Debris pose to space exploration?
- At this moment, space junk doesn't pose a huge risk to exploration efforts.
- The biggest danger it poses is to other satellites in orbit.
- These satellites have to move out of the way of all this incoming space junk to make sure they don't get hit and potentially damaged or destroyed.
- In total, across all satellites, hundreds of collision avoidance manoeuvres are performed every year,
- It includes the International Space Station (ISS), where astronauts live.
- The ISS has to carry out collision avoidance maneuvers to avoid getting damaged by space junk.
- Fortunately, collisions are rare: A Chinese satellite broke up in March 2021 after a collision. Before that, the last satellite to collide and be destroyed by space junk was in 2009. And when it comes to exploring beyond Earth's orbit, none of the limited amount of space junk out there poses a problem.
Initiatives to handle space debris:
- India aims to achieve achieve debris-free mission by 2030.
- The European Space Agency (ESA) and Twelve other nations have signed the Zero Debris Charter.
