THE DESTRUCTION BEYOND OUR SIGHT

-       by Sanuli Gamage

    To this day, only 4% of space has been explored, but one of the most human activities has been done up there as well, POLLUTION. As human activities in space increase, so does the impact of the environment beyond Earth. 

More than 27,000 pieces of orbital debris, or “space junk”, are tracked by the Department of Defense’s global Space Surveillance Network (SSN) sensors. Since both the debris and spacecraft are travelling at extremely high speeds (approximately 15,700 mph in low Earth orbit), an impact of even a tiny piece of orbital debris with a spacecraft could create big problems[1]

The most common reason for pollution in space is due to the dislodging stages of space rockets and fragments from collisions. This forms a cloud of debris orbiting the Earth. As any kind of pollution does, the effect of space pollution results in consequences for humans as the cloud of debris pose a significant threat to operational satellites or spacecrafts. A single collision in space generates more debris increasing the likelihood of future collisions. To reduce this problem, technologies are being developed for active debris removal and designing satellites with built-in mechanisms so that they can also contribute to the mitigation of space debris.

Another reason is due to the gases and chemicals released into the atmosphere in rocket launches, potentially leading to contamination of the space environment. The chemicals include hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide which can remain in space for extended periods. Fortunately, efforts are underway to explore greener propellants and design rockets with improved disposal mechanisms to mitigate chemical contamination.