Space Junk Cleanup Needed

Rings of human-made debris—from rocket stages and obsolete satellites to blown-off hatches and insulation—are circling the Earth. NASA environmental experts are warning that a cleanup will eventually be required. A study has established 2055 as the break-even point for debris accumulation. At that time the mounting rate of debris insertion will exceed that leaving orbit and falling back to earth. After that the rings will rapidly grow and solidify, increasing the hazard to in orbit satellites and human space travelers. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network is currently tracking over 13,000 human-made objects larger than four inches (ten centimeters) in diameter orbiting the Earth. These include both operational spacecraft and debris such as derelict rocket bodies. Nicholas Johnson is the chief scientist and program manager for orbital debris at NASA in Houston, Texas. "Of the 13,000 objects, over 40 percent came from breakups of both spacecraft and rocket bodies," Johnson said. To date efforts have concentrated on preventing new debris. Attention is now focusing on techniques for de-orbiting space refuse. Even though it is known to be a looming environmental problem, it's not expected that anything will be done about it. All measures considered thus far are either prohibitively expensive or impractically slow. for related news..