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  • Infographic: Space Junk

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    edsunonline
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    The document summarizes the issue of space debris orbiting Earth. It notes that in November 2011, Russia's Phobos-Grunt spacecraft failed to leave low-Earth orbit as intended and is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere and burn up in January 2015. There are over 500,000 pieces of debris in Earth's orbit, ranging from intact spacecraft to tiny paint flecks. The amount of debris is projected to increase significantly in the coming decades through accidental collisions that produce new fragments. Even small pieces of debris can damage spacecraft due to the high speeds involved in orbital flight.

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    Infographic: Space junk

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    The document summarizes the issue of space debris orbiting Earth. It notes that in November 2011, Russia's Phobos-Grunt spacecraft failed to leave low-Earth orbit as intended and is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere and burn up in January 2015. There are over 500,000 pieces of debris in Earth's orbit, ranging from intact spacecraft to tiny paint flecks. The amount of debris is projected to increase significantly in the coming decades through accidental collisions that produce new fragments. Even small pieces of debris can damage spacecraft due to the high speeds involved in orbital flight.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    2K views1 page

    Infographic: Space Junk

    Uploaded by

    edsunonline
    The document summarizes the issue of space debris orbiting Earth. It notes that in November 2011, Russia's Phobos-Grunt spacecraft failed to leave low-Earth orbit as intended and is expected to reenter Earth's atmosphere and burn up in January 2015. There are over 500,000 pieces of debris in Earth's orbit, ranging from intact spacecraft to tiny paint flecks. The amount of debris is projected to increase significantly in the coming decades through accidental collisions that produce new fragments. Even small pieces of debris can damage spacecraft due to the high speeds involved in orbital flight.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 1

    IN MINUTES

    On Nov. 9, 2011, Russias Phobos-Grunt was launched, but was lost due to propulsion failure and stuck in the low-earth orbit (LEO). It is speculated that this piece of debris will fall back to Earth on Jan. 15. Having space debris fall out of the sky isnt such a shocking experience anymore theres more than 500,000 pieces of debris orbiting the Earth.

    News and events visually

    junk in Image of space it low-earth orb


    e biting man-mad About 8,000 or an 4 are objects larger th d by the tracke currently being nce Network. ace Surveilla U.S. Sp ns more, There are millio to small to be e although they ar d. tracke

    12,000

    Projected numbers of orbital space junk


    Total

    10,000 8,000

    6,000

    Collision fragments

    4,000 Explosion fragments 2,000 Intacts & mission-related debris 30 70 50

    1950

    90

    2110

    30

    90

    70

    2010

    2210

    90

    70

    50

    Debris higher than 1,000 km of debris is will continue approximately 800 kms out. circling Earth for a century or more. Debris at
    800 km will stay in orbit for decades.

    84%

    Rocket bodies

    pieces of debris 15% orbit the earth

    8,000

    Operational satellites

    7%

    78%
    Fragmentation & inactive satellites

    Orbital debris: Any man-made object in orbit around Earth which no longer serves a useful purpose.
    Includes: Derelict spacecraft Debris released during spacecraft mission operations Debris from spacecraft explosions or collisions Tiny ecks of paint

    Debris in orbit below 600 km normally fall back to Earth within several years.

    Even tiny paint ecks can damage a spacecraft when traveling at these velocities. In fact a number of space shuttle windows have been replaced because of damage caused by material that was analyzed and shown to be paint ecks.
    Sources: NASA; United States Space Surveillance Network

    25,000 km/h
    Speed at which debris travels (fast enough for a relatively small piece of orbital debris to damage a satellite or a spacecraft)

    In 1996, a French satellite was hit and damaged by debris from a French rocket that had exploded a decade earlier. On Feb. 10, 2009, a defunct Russian satellite collided with and destroyed a functioning U.S. Iridium commercial satellite. The collision added more than 2,000 pieces of trackable debris to the inventory of space junk. Chinas 2007 anti-satellite test, which used a missile to destroy an old weather satellite, added more than 3,000 pieces to the debris problem.
    SUSAN BATSFORD, GRAPHICS EDITOR, TWITTER @SBATS1; INFOGRAPHIC BY TARA CORRAN/QMI AGENCY

    Crash!

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