Space & Astronomy
Space junk poses clean-up challenge
By
T.K. RandallAugust 13, 2011 ·
18 comments
Image Credit: NASA
The amount of debris in orbit is posing an ever greater risk to spacecraft and the environment.
Some scientists believe that the increase in space junk is going to pose a substantial problem before the century is out, with vehicles designed to actively remove the debris being considered to help clear Earth's orbit of unwanted materials.
The space junk trend no longer can be reversed by full compliance with mitigation measures now in place; it will get worse without more-aggressive action such as active debris removal, or ADR. And that just might pose the biggest engineering challenge of the 21st century, according to J. -C. Liou of the Orbital Debris Program Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Source:
Space.com |
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