NASA Needs Strategic Plan to Manage Orbital Debris Efforts; Risks Increasing for Satellites, Space S

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=13244

Date: Sept. 1, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NASA Needs Strategic Plan to Manage Orbital Debris Efforts; Risks Increasing for Satellites, Space Station

WASHINGTON - Although NASA's meteoroid and orbital debris programs have responsibly used their resources, the agency's management structure has not kept pace with increasing hazards posed by abandoned equipment, spent rocket bodies, and other debris orbiting the Earth, says a new report by the National Research Council. NASA should develop a formal strategic plan to better allocate resources devoted to the management of orbital debris. In addition, removal of debris from the space environment or other actions to mitigate risks may be necessary.

The complexity and severity of the orbital debris environment combined with decreased funding and increased responsibilities have put new pressures on NASA, according to the report. Some scenarios generated by the agency's meteoroid and orbital debris models show that debris has reached a "tipping point," with enough currently in orbit to continually collide and create even more debris, raising the risk of spacecraft failures, the report notes. In addition, collisions with debris have disabled and even destroyed satellites in the past; a recent near-miss of the International Space Station underscores the value in monitoring and tracking orbital debris as precisely as possible.

"The current space environment is growing increasingly hazardous to spacecraft and astronauts," said Donald Kessler, chair of the committee that wrote the report and retired head of NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office. "NASA needs to determine the best path forward for tackling the multifaceted problems caused by meteoroids and orbital debris that put human and robotic space operations at risk."

The strategic plan NASA develops should provide a basis for prioritizing efforts and allocating funds to the agency's numerous meteoroid and orbital debris programs, the report says. Currently, the programs do not have a single management and budget structure that can efficiently coordinate all of these activities. The programs are also vulnerable to changes in personnel, as nearly all of them are staffed by just one person. The strategic plan, which should consider short- and long-term objectives, a schedule of benchmark achievements, and priorities among them, also should include potential research needs and management issues. The report lists these.

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[applegrove]

1. Reminds me of how trash infested Mount Everest is supposed to be. Is nothing sacred?

[Johonny]

2. Not just NASA

all space users need to think about their orbital environmental impact of their missions.

[DetlefK]

3. What about getting a satellite with a gigantic electromagnet into orbit?

Not to pick them up. NOOOOOOOOOO.

These particles are circling up there, because they are in an equilibrium between gravity and zentrifugal force. The electromagnet would add an additional force to that equation and disturb the equilibrium. Turn it on for a few hours or days and then turn it off again.
->
The particles' velocity-vectors will tilt during that time, so the particles fly either into a higher orbit (which would be unstable and they would eventually fly away from earth) or a lower orbit (which would be unstable, too, and the particles would crash into the atmosphere).

Wash, rinse, repeat.

And the electromagnet wouldn't have to be activated 24-7, because he doesn't have to keep hold of the debris for ever and ever. HE WILL KICK IT INTO OBLIVION! BUHAHAHA!

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. That’s one approach

Here’re some more:
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-07/cluttered-space

[Johonny]

5. Here's the UN guidlines on limiting space debris

http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/library/Space%20Debris%20Mitigation%20Guidelines_COPUOS.pdf

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. That will help limit additional space junk

However, we need to do something about the junk that’s already in orbit.

From the PopSci article:

…

Even NASA recognizes that its existing rule—objects must have the capability to push themselves (or be pushed) out of orbit within 30 years of launch—isn’t enough anymore. Earlier this year, it published a paper showing that it could make low-Earth orbit safe by removing five objects per year.

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