·       HOW MUCH JUNK IS IN SPACE?

WHY SHOULD I WORRY ABOUT JUNK SPACE?

Junk space is the collection of defunct man-made objects in space such as old satellites, spent rocket stages, and fragments from disintegration, erosion, and collisions.

Ø  According to the NASA, there are about 18,000 objects in orbit of greater size than a ball baseball; 300.000 greater than a currency, and million even smaller size(among them, the 150,000 pieces as large as a produced lump of sugar when the Chinese demolished one of their late satellites in 2007). This generation of remainders still will proliferate more when the fragments greater than a baseball ball collides  against objects of greater size, creating a still greater sweepings cloud.

Ø  The amount of junk space will continue growing without control, and the calculations predict that for 2055 it will be impossible to send any space mission without impacting  against  these objects, unless it is developed and it executed a plan to get rid of them. Many of the objects will move away slowly and others will fall to the Earth, like it has already happened in several opportunities. In spite of the small size of most of fragments, the vertiginous speeds which are put under, they do of a these serious threat to any mission that can be carried out in the future next. From 1991, three collisions in the Earth orbit because of the space sweepings have been registered at least. These collisions will be multiplied and, simultaneously, they will increase the objects dangerous in orbit. The mathematical progression calculated by the experts bases in more than 18 shocks to the year will be the number of accidents produced by these scrap irons stops within two centuries.

Ø  Space junk can linger in orbit for many decades at very high altitudes and continues to build up as more is produced. As more and more space junk accumulates around Earth, the likelihood that it will collide with functioning satellites increases dramatically. These collisions can take place at the speed of thousands of miles per hour, so even a collision of a tiny fragment can be disastrous and destroy a spacecraft worth billions of dollars. Every time a collision occurs, thousands of new pieces of debris can be formed. Nowadays, space junk is being produced at a faster rate than it can burn up in the atmosphere. The existence of space junk affects our daily lives more than we know it. Nearly a hundred tons of space junk falls from orbit every year. Most of it falls into the vast ocean or just burns off in the atmosphere. However, some of this space junk falls in populated areas and causes damage, so we should worry about junk space because in the future hundred of junk space will damage the Earth.

 ADRIANA GODILLOT BUENO 2ºC