Kilbourne1 Brock Kilbourne English 2010-068 Professor Loreen Bessire November 22, 13 Someone, Take Out the Trash!

In 1957 man reached the final frontier with the help of Russain space craft Sputnik I. It was the first spacecraft to orbit earth and subsequently ushered in the Space Age and the Space Race that followed. According to The Space Review, since that day and as of December 31st, 2009, human kind has hurdled more than 6,854 spacecraft skyward; either into space or into orbit around our planet. Claude Lafluer points out, This is an average of 132 spacecraft a year over the last fifty two years(Lafleur). Each successful mission into orbit required tremendous amounts of boost, fuel, and essential elements to reach the intended orbit. As these necessary elements were separated or jettisoned along the flight path they remained in orbit as well. As the years went on and the rockets went up, more and more of this equipment was left in orbit, creating a menacing threat and a rather large pile of debris that is now known as Space Junk. If we do not create effective solutions to these threats, then debris will drastically impair our future in space and on earth. Countries must develop good strategies for dealing with objects already left in space, but also to create safe measures for appropriately dealing with future missions, allowing us to move forward and continue enjoying the daily conveniences we have all come to rely on and expect as a constant. It is up to us as a space faring planet to hold ourselves accountable and work together.

Kilbourne2 Many comforts and luxuries of our daily lives are in jeopardy if the issue of space junk is not resolved. Fraser Cain with Universe Today states, at the moment, there are 1,071 operational satellites in orbit around the earth (Cain). These satellites are taken for granted every day. Some satellites give us normalcies such as telecommunications and broadcast, weather observations, Internet and data streaming, and GPS services. But all of these operational satellites are crucial to life in every country around the world, influencing every walk of life from the U.S. to India. From as close to home as checking the weather every morning, sending a text to your friend, emailing a professor, finding the fastest route for your road trip, or skyping your relative a continent away, to things you never see at all like military eyes in the sky, the Hubble Telescope, and scientific instruments that help us understand the science of space and beyond. These things all rely somewhat, if not fully, on these satellites functioning properly. Imagine a day when most of these things would disappear, potentially forever, because of an over stocked and ever increasing volatile junkyard. This hypothetical future is a scenario in which one collision would create a series of collisions between space debris. This would lead to a cascading effect of collision events, ultimately creating an exponentially growing carpet of debris around our planet. This carpet would destroy existing equipment and suffocate the potential for orbital use and space travel. There is also a good amount of money and capital orbiting our planet. The European Space Agency has projected that there is $1.3 billion of equipment, vehicles, instruments, and other high value objects floating above us that simply have to be safeguarded. There are 200 very important satellites that have a total insured value of $169.5 million (Howell). Values like these cannot be ignored. NASA states that

Kilbourne3 surrounding these orbiting necessities are 20,000 tracked and confirmed pieces of debris, about ninety-five percent of which are the size of a marble or larger. Debris smaller than this are estimated in the area of 500,000, all of which are capable of, and have had, high risk impacts with our current operating systems (NASA). A dangerous environment like this is risky for such sensitive equipment. Consider the overcrowding of a city; the more people, cars, bikes, etc. on the streets, the better the chance of a collision. Except, instead of an accident where a car suffers a broken bumper and taillight, there is a collision, or sometimes an explosion, which creates an exponential cascade of debris. According to NASA, They all travel at speeds up to 17,500 mph, fast enough for a relatively small piece of orbital debris to damage a satellite or space craft(NASA). It is easy to see the potential risk of the space junk. In the popular feature film Gravity, the main antagonist is the space junk, where a cascade of debris from an explosion rips apart a space shuttle mission and eventually destroys the International Space Station. As fictional as the story is, the plot is all too feasible. Some would say that measures to solve this growing problem would be too immense in cost and in feasibility. Claude Phipps points out one example, the idea is referred to as the Catchers Mitt approach (Phipps 2). In this theory, a large block of low-density solid material would be placed into a crucial orbital zone. There are two problems to the proposed solution. First, the object would have to be large, very large in fact, with a required mass of around two million metric tons to effectively collect 300,000 debris pieces in a two-year span. Such a device would most likely work in LEO (low earth orbit), where a force known as Ram Pressure (the pressure exerted on an object, relative to its distance from earths orbit) would be in full effect on the proposed object.

Kilbourne4 This would require a constant booster to maintain its orbital clean up path. Second, our current launch capabilities are at a stalemate with given size restrictions of spacecraft (Phipps). A certain dead end has been reached. We need to work within our current scientific boundaries. It is easy to understand how some can see the magnitude of such a feat as non cost-effective. Although the Catchers Mitt approach has drawbacks in regard to size and cost, achievable proposals are in the making. For example, the Swiss have been developing a tactic to remove space debris through the use of robotic satellites. In this approach, small purpose built satellites would be sent into space with one goal in mind, attaching themselves to a chunk of debris, then ushering the debris into a controlled dissent into the atmosphere. These small robotic garbage men can attach to a piece of debris, even those with an uncontrolled tumble, and safely remove them. These satellites could also be used as space repairmen, attaching to broken or damaged vehicles them preforming repairs or upgrades. Doing so could increase their mission times, ultimately requiring fewer satellites to replace them, thus reducing potential junk. Cost effective, lightweight, and small instruments like these are a great step forward in solving our problem. Irina Gavrilovich of the Swiss Space Center wrote a detailed report on one such microsatellite named Clean Space One; in her conclusion she states: Finally the first gripper prototype was built and actuated to prove [the] possibility of this DEMES [Dielectric Elastomer Minimum Energy Structure] application. The data resulting [in] this project shows that [the] DEMES approach for compliant gripper is [a] sufficient and

Kilbourne5 promising solution. It has some important advantages lightweight, small sizes, low power consumption. The DEMES gripper prototype proved its functionality and scalability that make its application suitable for grabbing bigger object, than it was shown in report. (56) Another solution that has been gaining momentum since its introduction eighteen years ago is the use of earth based laser technologies to help clear the skies. In short, a set up consisting of a large pulsed laser, mirrors, and tracking platform would be set up on or near the equator. Upon selecting and locking on to a debris target, the platform would then begin a repetitive laser pulse upon the object. For re-entry and disposal of both large and small objects, the energy from the laser would be focused against the orbit of the debris, lowering the orbit speed and orbital altitude until eventual re-entry into the atmosphere. Small objects could be acted upon one time, and then ignored, as their path would be calculated with a quick descent. Larger items, like intact defunct satellites, or objects that are in a constant tumbling through their orbit could be removed at a slow controlled pace, avoiding unproved and potentially risky grappling techniques from space based removal vehicles. Claude Phipps with the Photonic Associates affirms that current laser technologies have turned this theory from feasible to optional. Laser Orbital Debris Removal (LODR) has been indicated to have a positive potential. Anticipated costs to remove objects from orbit are the lowest of any other technology. Additionally laser debris removal is the open door for international collaboration and cooperation, he also states, which is essential to avoid severe problems arising from suspicions about the intent of the system and property damage issues (Russia and the U.S. are together

Kilbourne6 responsible for 83% of the large objects to be removed). It is also essential to facilitate approval for day-to-day operations(346). We have available, the sciences, and the resources to solve the problem at hand. Taking everything into consideration, space debris mitigation is a challenge that must be addressed much sooner than later, and cooperatively by every space faring nation. Costs need to be set aside and solutions made the priority. As Dr. Heiner Klinkrad of the European Space Agency has testified, Whatever we are going to do, whatever we have to do, is an expensive solution(qtd. in Howell) after which he stresses the idea in which we have to parallel the price of solving this problem in an early stage, to a later stage in which its already too late (Howell). Employing multiple techniques to reduce and eventually solve the issue of space junk is imperative. Our space bound neighbors and ourselves have developed an incredibly large and incredibly intricate infrastructure in the sky; one we all deeply depend on. In order to maintain the quality of life we have all come to enjoy work must be done to render this problem a thing of the past, so we may all enjoy the future.

Kilbourne7 Works Cited Cain, Fraser. "How Many Satellites Are in Space?" Universe Today RSS. N.p., 24 Oct. 2013. Web. Howell, Elizabeth. "Experts Urge Removal of Space Debris From Orbit." Universe Today RSS. N.p., 28 Apr. 2013. Web. Gavrilovich, Irina, et al. "CleanSpace One Gripper Report." 2013. Web. Lafleur, Claude. "Spacecraft Stats and Insights." The Space Review:. TSR, 5 Apr. 2010. Web. "NASA: Space Debris and Human Spacecraft." NASA. NASA, 27 Sept. 2013. Web. Phipps, Claude. "Catchers Mitt as an Alternative to Laser Space Debris Mitigation." American Institute of Physics 1278.1 (2010): 509-14. EBSCOhost. 8 Oct. 2010. Web.