Space debris

[ZandraJoi]

All countries are responsible for the space debris up there. I'm sure if we had a view from space looking down, we'd see a literal space landfill. That is disgusting! Humans don't care to literally trash the Earth, they definitely don't care up there. I for one wish Elon Musk wouldn't put up so many Starlinks. I hate seeing so many satellites going past when I'm trying to stargaze.
What do you think about the topic of space debris? Do you think countries should be more aware of it?

[Kyng]

I do worry that it's going to become a major problem in the future. As we put up more and more satellites, they're just going to accumulate - and create new hazards for any future space launches. This will be further worsened as some of these satellites run into things, and break into hundreds of pieces: even very small fragments can be lethal!

Fortunately, there are ideas on how to deal with this - and hopefully, one of them will work before it's too late!

[Pyrite]

Yes, it is rather a concern. I've said this before in another thread, but the James Webb telescope was hit by a dust-sized particle that took out one portion of the mirror. Fortunately, it was realigned and accounted for, so shouldn't cause any problems for the telescope, but it does draw attention to how much of an issue even the smallest of particles can be.

We really don't want to get to a point where all this space junk prevents us from leaving Earth at all. But as CJ said, people are working on the problem, and I'm hopeful that in time we will be able to clear the debris.

[Kyng]

Another issue that's been pointed out... if the junk continues to accumulate, then it could stop us from taking the options necessary to find extra-terrestrial life:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/space...71454.html

Since the "Are we alone?" question is of great interest to many of us, I'd hate for that to happen!

[ZandraJoi]

Another issue that's been pointed out... if the junk continues to accumulate, then it could stop us from taking the options necessary to find extra-terrestrial life:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/space...71454.html

Since the "Are we alone?" question is of great interest to many of us, I'd hate for that to happen!

I believe it! It's too crowded up there. If I was an alien & was visiting planets, I wouldn't want to stop here. lol

[slooroo]

The easiest answer is probably the least pleasant which is let capitalism do it's thing. Some of this junk would have rare metals on them and somebody would possibly be tempted to figure out how to start an intergalactic salvaging company to get that stuff, especially if it included asteroid mining too.

[Kyng]

The easiest answer is probably the least pleasant which is let capitalism do it's thing. Some of this junk would have rare metals on them and somebody would possibly be tempted to figure out how to start an intergalactic salvaging company to get that stuff, especially if it included asteroid mining too.

Well, I guess that might solve this eventually . But at present, I imagine collecting those materials would be far more costly than simply mining them here on Earth... I don't know how long it'd take before something like this becomes economically viable, but I'm guessing it'd be decades, at the very least.

[slooroo]

The easiest answer is probably the least pleasant which is let capitalism do it's thing. Some of this junk would have rare metals on them and somebody would possibly be tempted to figure out how to start an intergalactic salvaging company to get that stuff, especially if it included asteroid mining too.

Well, I guess that might solve this eventually . But at present, I imagine collecting those materials would be far more costly than simply mining them here on Earth... I don't know how long it'd take before something like this becomes economically viable, but I'm guessing it'd be decades, at the very least.

Eventually sure but I think decades is a bit pessimistic. I could see Elon branching into this sooner rather than later since he's already talked about it and SpaceX would probably like a new income stream and if Elon has said it I'm sure his rivals like Bezos are also debating it.

[Kyng]

The easiest answer is probably the least pleasant which is let capitalism do it's thing. Some of this junk would have rare metals on them and somebody would possibly be tempted to figure out how to start an intergalactic salvaging company to get that stuff, especially if it included asteroid mining too.

Well, I guess that might solve this eventually . But at present, I imagine collecting those materials would be far more costly than simply mining them here on Earth... I don't know how long it'd take before something like this becomes economically viable, but I'm guessing it'd be decades, at the very least.

Eventually sure but I think decades is a bit pessimistic. I could see Elon branching into this sooner rather than later since he's already talked about it and SpaceX would probably like a new income stream and if Elon has said it I'm sure his rivals like Bezos are also debating it.

Fair point: if anyone was going to try this in the next few years, it'd probably be Elon. And it probably doesn't matter much to him if it loses billions of dollars: he's so rich that he'd hardly notice .