53. Space Junk

Space junk is junk from rockets and other things that go around a low Earth orbit. It is a problem in space travel that needs to be fixed soon. With more rockets launching everyday, it is essential that we address this problem.

There are millions of pieces of space junk orbiting the Earth right now, as you can see in the picture above. Now, I know your wondering; why is it a problem? Just avoid the space junk when you're launching rockets! Well, guess what? YOU CAN'T! There are so many pieces out in space! And although NASA and SpaceX have found empty patches in this vast junkyard to launch through, those gaps might disappear soon.

Space junk is nearly everywhere. Most pieces are microscopic, the size of a grain of sand. The other massive pieces are getting hammered and turned into small pieces. That sounds good right? WRONG. Because now you have got about 40 or so pieces instead of one. But they are still microscopic. surely they couldn't do much harm? No. You have to remember that they are going about 20,000km per hour. A grain of sand flying at 20,000km per hour can go straight through a satellite or space station.

Scientists use combinations of telescopes, radars and data from space missions to detect all this junk. Normal ground-based telescopes can see space junk from 10cm in size and upwards, from about 35,000 km from Earth. The radar is just the same, just shorter ranged.

There are loads of solutions to this big problem. One solution is to just ignore it and make reusable rockets and movable satellites. Another solution is to make a robot or cleaner that sucks up the junk. The possibilities are endless (almost).

Thank you for reading my blog about space junk! To watch videos on space check out my YouTube Channel and hit the like button on this blog for more blogs.

Until next time, Give Me Space!

Henry