Watch out: space debris!

Believe it or not, apart from polluting our oceans we are managing to litter outer space as well. Besides old satellites wearing off and flying paint flecks, sometimes there are dramatic events that produce a sheer amount of cosmic rubbish: there have been satellite collisions in the past, and we have recent examples of countries blowing up satellites on purpose! Space debris is dangerous and difficult to monitor, but why? And how can it affect our daily lives? Let's find out together!

Transcript

1. Watch out: space debris! Juan Luis Cano Rodríguez <hello@juanlu.space> 2019-05-21 Pint of Science @ Michael Collins
2. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris Summary “Believe it or not, apart from polluting our oceans we are managing to litter outer space as well1. Besides old satellites wearing off2 and flying paint flecks2, sometimes there are dramatic events that produce a sheer amount of cosmic rubbish: there have been satellite collisions in the past, and we have recent examples of countries blowing up satellites on purpose! Space debris is dangerous and difficult to monitor, but why? And how can it affect our daily lives? Let's find out together!”
3. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris Outline 1. Why is space so important? 2. Space debris: What is it, and what causes it? 3. Who monitors space debris, and how? 4. What’s the road ahead?
4. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris Who am I? Aerospace Engineer Developer @ Satellogic Professor @ IE and BTS Freelance problem solver Passionate about space! Madrileño
5. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris A quick intro to satellites!
6. What have the Romans satellites ever done for us??!?
7. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris Apart from helping us Predict the weather...
8. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris ...Getting us around...
9. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris ...Allowing us to communicate in remote places...
10. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris ...And giving us wonderful science?!
11. The threat: Space Debris
12. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris Space debris1 Out of control, artificially created objects in space Traveling2 at 28 000 km/h Sizes from sub-millimeter to whole satellites Difficult to propagate3 1Also known as orbital debris, space junk, space waste, space trash, space litter or space garbage 2Just as the rest of the satellites! Also, the speed depends on the altitude 3Predict its future position
13. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris
14. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris “the size of a school bus”
15. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris
16. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris WTF! WTF!
17. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris China 2007 anti-satellite test
18. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris China 2007 anti-satellite test
19. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris 2009 Iridium-Cosmos collision
20. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris 2015 DMSP explosion
21. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris 2019 rocket breakup
22. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris I created thousands of debris fragments on purpose and everybody went crazy!
23. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris I created thousands of debris fragments on purpose and everybody went crazy! Hold my beer.
24. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris India 2019 anti-satellite test
25. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris
26. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris
27. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris Orbital decay
28. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris Orbital decay
29. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris The IADC guidelines The “Inter-Agency space Debris Coordination committee Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines” define protected regions
30. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris The IADC guidelines And proposes several mitigation measures: 1. Limit Debris Released during Normal Operations 2. Minimise the Potential for On-Orbit Break-ups 3. Post Mission Disposal 4. Prevention of On-Orbit Collisions “A spacecraft or orbital stage should be left in an orbit in which, using an accepted nominal projection for solar activity, atmospheric drag will limit the orbital lifetime after completion of operations. This IADC [and others] have found 25 years to be a reasonable and appropriate lifetime limit.”
31. However… These are only guidelines!
32. The road ahead
33. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris Better observability and tracking
34. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris More strict “guidelines”, policies?
35. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris Peace
36. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris References The great David Finkleman! https://spacenews.com/letter-25-year-orbit-disposal-guideline-poorly-cast/ ◦ https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/pdf/10.2514/6.2010-7822 ISO 16164 https://www.iso.org/standard/55741.html ◦ (And there’s also ISO 24113 mentioned by D. Finkleman) https://spacenews.com/1-in-5-cubesats-violate-international-orbit-disposal-guidelines/ Good intro http://www.unoosa.org/pdf/icg/2015/icg10/02pf.pdf “Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines” FCC new regulations https://spacenews.com/fcc-to-seek-comment-on-revised-orbital-debris-guidelines/ ESA guidelines https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Safety/Space_Debris/Mitigating_space_debris_generation ◦ “adopted ISO 24113” ◦ “The ultimate ISO standards on space debris mitigation, however, will remain non binding (as is true for any ISO standard)” Dr. Moriba Jah view https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6530809127067799552 ESA Space Debris database https://discosweb.esoc.esa.int/web/guest/statistics
37. Watch out: space debris! hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris
38. hello@juanlu.space https://speakerdeck.com/astrojuanlu/watch-out-space-debris Questions How many satellites / pieces of debris are in orbit? Who decides what satellites go to orbit? How much time does it take for a satellite to reentry? How often is the International Space Station hit by space debris? JSPOC, FCC...