Rise in space junk orbiting the Earth could provoke armed conflict

[GennGreymane]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sc...-a6831256.html

The rise of space junk orbiting the Earth could 'provoke armed conflict' as damage to military satellites could be misconstrued as an attack, a new report warned.

Researchers at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow said the debris had a “special political danger” because it is difficult to determine whether an operational satellite had been hit by the fragments or was intentionally attacked by another country.

Space agencies in the US and Russia track thousands of pieces of space junk larger than 10cm but estimate there could be trillions of smaller pieces.

Writing in a study for the journal Acta Astronautica, astrophysicist Vitaly Adushkin said such an incident “may provoke political or even armed conflict between space-faring nations”.

“The owner of the impacted and destroyed satellite can hardly quickly determine the real cause of the accident”, he explained.

The warning comes after a Russian satellite, Blits, was damaged in 2013 after colliding with debris created when China shot down an old weather satellite in 2007.

The destruction of the satellite left 3,000 more pieces of debris in orbit.

Professor Adushkin warns unless something is done to clean up this area of the Earth’s orbit it could lead to more space junk forming as pieces of debris crash into each other and produce smaller fragments.

Data from the Russian Space Agency last year shows the International Space Station was forced to take evasive action to avoid space wreckage five times in 2014.

[Kaleredar]

So how does one clean up "space debris?" And who pays for it?

[Vanyali]

So how does one clean up "space debris?" And who pays for it?

with a biiiiiig net!

alternatively, finding a way to destabilize their orbits so they burn in atmosphere would do the trick. how to do it? no idea. not remotely trained in that field. for rice, i'd imagine it'd work out like the ISS, with countries contributing in various ways.

[Nanaboostme]

So how does one clean up "space debris?" And who pays for it?

[Deleted]

So they say it can't be determined whether it's an attack or not, yet they know that China is responsible for the destruction of their satellite? Contradict much?
And even if China does it on purpose, hardly a reason for war since no attack on Russian soil ever took place.

[Vanyali]

So they say it can't be determined whether it's an attack or not, yet they know that China is responsible for the destruction of their satellite? Contradict much?
And even if China does it on purpose, hardly a reason for war since no attack on Russian soil ever took place.

China destroyed their own satellite. Pieces of their (destroyed) satellite were in the same orbit as the Russian satellite and collided with it.

[Ripster42]

So they say it can't be determined whether it's an attack or not, yet they know that China is responsible for the destruction of their satellite? Contradict much?
And even if China does it on purpose, hardly a reason for war since no attack on Russian soil ever took place.

Imagine it was a satellite that monitored ICBM launches or something, and they suspected someone had taken them out in preparation for an nuclear attack. Reducing the sources for misunderstandings on that type of scale is always something to be striven for.

[Simulacrum]

Yeah, as could fish migration. Just add a "could" in there and you can say anything. What I have for dinner tomorrow could initiate world war 3. I mean, who knows, right? But is it something worth worrying about? Probably not, man.

A more honest headline would be something like "space junk is a problem and people aren't sure how to handle it". Not gonna get as many clicks from that, though, I guess.

[Noradin]

alternatively, finding a way to destabilize their orbits so they burn in atmosphere would do the trick. how to do it? no idea. not remotely trained in that field. for rice, i'd imagine it'd work out like the ISS, with countries contributing in various ways.

Careful with that one, big pieces coming down can deal a lot of destruction to everything in their way - which is why some satellites get destroyed in space first.

- - - Updated - - -

A more honest headline would be something like "space junk is a problem and people aren't sure how to handle it". Not gonna get as many clicks from that, though, I guess.

Yes. Everone who has satellites in space knows they can be destroyed at any time by random junk and pieces because there is no atmosphere to protect them.

[Sierra85]

we need some space police to patrol the space borders to keep countries dumping their shit in our no-air space.

[Haibara]

http://myanimelist.net/anime/329/Planetes this is how

[Berri]

Before we bother trying to figure out how to clean up space, let's commit to actually cleaning our mess out of the oceans.

[Deleted]

Imagine it was a satellite that monitored ICBM launches or something, and they suspected someone had taken them out in preparation for an nuclear attack. Reducing the sources for misunderstandings on that type of scale is always something to be striven for.

What prevents a meteorite from hitting such a satellite? You can never avoid them getting hit.

[Darksoldierr]

http://myanimelist.net/anime/329/Planetes this is how

One of the best, grounded sci-fi anime out there, if you like space, you should check it out

[Graeham]

Before we bother trying to figure out how to clean up space, let's commit to actually cleaning our mess out of the oceans.

Sadly the simple fact that our oceans are so polluted makes it unlikely that the situation in space will be resolved. Sure, there will be a lot of talk and hot air about a 'need for action' but very little will actually be done about either plight. Mostly because it will cost a lot of money - and even if the people in charge do do something it'll likely end up with regular people footing the bill as per usual through higher taxes.