Japanese researchers are working on satellite technology that will use wood components to remove more space junk and burn objects when they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, a new report says.
Sumitomo Forestry, a 400-year-old Japanese timber company, is partnering with Kyoto University to develop the technology, the BBC reported on Tuesday.
NASA estimated more than a decade ago that 95% of man-made objects in orbit were space junk. They come from failed satellites, abandoned rocket stages and other discarded mission materials.
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According to the European Space Agency, most of them are relatively small. Of the 128 million pieces of debris in orbit, only 34,000 objects are larger than 10 cm. But when large collided objects collide, they produce lots of small ones. And they can travel over 20,000 miles, making even the smallest particles dangerous.
There are also about 2,800 working satellites in orbit, according to the Union Concerned Scientists, which manages the satellite database. Governments and space-ringing companies plan to launch thousands more in the future.
Experts are concerned that too much junk in orbit could complicate future launches, possibly narrowing the flight’s flight window. Large objects falling out of orbit are also dangerous for life on Earth
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Space junk threatens satellites and can be potentially fatal for astronauts. Some projections from countries with little concern about safety protocols could send large amounts of harmful material back to Earth.
In May, a Chinese rocket core rained down into pieces in West Africa. If his rentry had been done a few minutes earlier, he could have slammed New York City.
Wood satellites will break completely instead of flapping back to the surface or releasing small metal particles that could pierce spacesuits, solar panels or shuttles in the future.
“We are very concerned about the fact that all the satellites that re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere burn out and form small alumina particles that will float in the upper atmosphere for many years,” Taco Doe, a professor at Kyoto University and a Japanese astronaut, told the BBC. Japanese astronaut Taco Doe told the BBC. “Eventually it will affect the Earth’s atmosphere.”
October In October, two pieces of junk collided around 615 miles from Earth. One was a disabled Russian satellite launched in 1989 and the other was a Chinese rocket stage since 2009.
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Miss Bjackets passed close to each other’s 39 feet, but the crash could tear them into thousands of pieces and then pose the risk of further collisions with other Bjjets.
