Space debris is a growing problem, so companies are working on ways to mitigate it. A new satellite called ADRAS-J was built and launched to demonstrate how a spacecraft could rendezvous with a piece of space junk, paving the path for future removal. Astroscale Japan Inc, the Japanese company behind the satellite, released a new picture from the mission showing a close image of its target space debris, a discarded Japanese H2A rocket’s upper stage, captured from just a few hundred meters away.
Continue reading “This is an Actual Picture of Space Debris”NASA Confirms that a Piece of its Battery Pack Smashed into a Florida Home
NASA is in the business of launching things into orbit. But what goes up must come down, and if whatever is coming down doesn’t burn up in the atmosphere, it will strike Earth somewhere.
Even Florida isn’t safe.
Continue reading “NASA Confirms that a Piece of its Battery Pack Smashed into a Florida Home”Watch a Satellite Reaction Wheel Melt in a Simulated Orbital Re-Entry
Most satellites share the same fate at the end of their lives. Their orbits decay, and eventually, they plunge through the atmosphere toward Earth. Most satellites are destroyed during their rapid descent, but not always
Heavy pieces of the satellite, like reaction wheels, can survive and strike the Earth. Engineers are trying to change that.
Continue reading “Watch a Satellite Reaction Wheel Melt in a Simulated Orbital Re-Entry”See the Dramatic Final Moments of the Doomed ERS-2 Satellite
When a satellite reaches the end of its life, it has only two destinations. It can either be maneuvered into a graveyard orbit, a kind of purgatory for satellites, or it plunges to its destruction in Earth’s atmosphere. The ESA’s ERS-2 satellite took the latter option after 30 years in orbit.
Continue reading “See the Dramatic Final Moments of the Doomed ERS-2 Satellite”Space Junk is Going to be a Problem for Vera Rubin
The Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) is different than other large telescopes, and that difference makes it more vulnerable to space junk. Other telescopes, like the Giant Magellan Telescope and the European Extremely Large Telescope, focus on distant objects. But the VRO’s job is to repeatedly image the entire available night sky for ten years, spotting transients and variable objects.
All that space junk can look like transient events, impairing the VRO’s vision and polluting its results.
Continue reading “Space Junk is Going to be a Problem for Vera Rubin”99% of Space Junk is Undetectable. That Could Change Soon
Private and military organizations are tracking some of the 170 million pieces of space junk orbiting the planet, but they’re limited to how small an object they can detect. Only chunks larger than a softball can be tracked with radar or optical systems, and that only accounts for less than 1% of the junk out there.
But a new technique is being developed to resolve space junk to pieces smaller than one millimeter in diameter.
Continue reading “99% of Space Junk is Undetectable. That Could Change Soon”ESA Plans to Eliminate New Space Debris by 2030
What can we do about space junk? We know how much debris is in orbit, and we know the problem is getting worse. It’s our fault.
Our Earth now has a halo of orbital debris, and the ESA has a plan to stop contributing to the problem.
Continue reading “ESA Plans to Eliminate New Space Debris by 2030”Oops. Astronauts Lost a Tool Bag During a Spacewalk!
I know for a fact it’s one of the most annoying things that can happen. I’ve done it lots; whether that be out at night with telescope or a bit of DIY but for sure it has to rate as one of the most frustrating things to happen. I am talking of dropping something you are using. Ranking high is dropping tools while you are actually using them.. Dropping a tool is one thing but imagine dropping an entire bag of tools, while in orbit!!!! Oops!
Continue reading “Oops. Astronauts Lost a Tool Bag During a Spacewalk!”A Russian Satellite Has Shifted Within 60 km of Another Spacecraft
When it comes to saber-rattling, few countries employ it as much as Russia does. During their ongoing invasion and occupation of Ukraine, the country’s leadership has repeatedly threatened to use atomic weapons. But the threats don’t stop there.
A private company called Slingshot Aerospace says Russia has maneuvered one of their Luch satellites uncomfortably close to Western spacecraft in GEO (geostationary orbit.)
And it’s not the first time.
Continue reading “A Russian Satellite Has Shifted Within 60 km of Another Spacecraft”Spaceflight is Polluting the Atmosphere with Metal
Humans can’t seem to interact with the environment at all without fouling it in some way. From plastic bags in the ocean’s deepest regions to soot on Himalayan glaciers, our waste is finding its way into Earth’s most difficult-to-reach places.
Now, we can add metals in the stratosphere to this ignominious list.
Continue reading “Spaceflight is Polluting the Atmosphere with Metal”