That is why the amount of space junk increases with geometric progression every day (“Orbital debris is a serious problem for space flight”, par 2). Another confirmation
Efecan Oral 11/11/15 Popular Science Writing Assignment “Space Junk” Threat and Solution We have been launching satellites for over 50 years now and like retired NASA senior scientist Donald Kessler said “We have lost control of the environment” already. As a result of the near 5000 launches of communication, weather forecast, television and navigation satellites since the start of the space age, result with the potentially damaging space debris that orbits Earth. Scientists estimate the total number of space debris objects in orbit to be around 29,000 for sizes larger than 10 centimeters, 670,000 larger than 1 centimeter and more than 170 million larger than 1 millimeter and like we learnt in the class as a result of their
This debris and piece of Earth molded together to form the Moon. The Moon then stayed and started orbiting the Earth. This theory explains why the Earth has a smaller core that is made of the same material as the Earths core. The impact from the collision could have resulted in the "Earth 's fast initial spin" (Newman). The energy from this collision is an explanation for the extra heating of the Moon.
“Space Debris and Human Spacecraft.” Edited by Mark Garcia, NASA, 7 Aug. 2017, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/news/orbital_debris.html. 3. Tallis, Joshua. “Remediating Space Debris .” Strategic Studies Quarterly. , Spring.
The low Earth orbits; will orbit between 160 km up to 2,000 km above sea level, but satellites do not usually orbit below 300 km due to the atmospheric drag (collision with gas molecules frequently which occur in the thermosphere and/or exosphere), therefore low Earth orbits at a height around 160 km will reach faster an orbital decay. Not only will this orbits remain less amount of time in the atmosphere; but also they will have to be launched with a significantly fast speed so that it may orbit for a longer period due to the balance between its speed and the “pull of Earth’s gravity”(NASA, September 16, 2015). Depending on the altitude at which the satellite is located, the speed at which it orbits varies, as closer to the sea level; the more speed the satellite will have to orbit at to prevent orbital decay occurring instantly. Low Earth orbits usually have a speed of 7.8 km/sec. The highly elliptical orbits; vary both, their speed and height at different points in their rotation; their perigee (Lowest height) is usually below 1,000 km meanwhile their apogee (highest height) is usually above 35,786 km, this means that at the perigee the speed of orbit will be a lot higher than at apogee to prevent orbital decay, therefore at the perigee the speed will be around 7.8 km/sec and at the apogee around 4 km/sec.
The asteroids are orbiting around the sun mainly in what we call the asteroid belt - an area between the orbit of Mars and Jupiter. There are millions of asteroids in space, ranging in size from hundreds of metres across to as small as a pebble. Asteroids are made
McKibben writes, “More than 46,000 pieces of plastic debris float on each square mile of ocean.”(334). The decline in the water quality of our oceans is a real epidemic. According to EcoWatch, about one million seabirds and one hundred thousand marine mammals die every year from the plastic debris floating in our oceans. Also, EcoWatch states that “In the Los Angeles area alone, 10 metric tons of plastic fragments—like grocery bags, straws and soda bottles—are carried into the Pacific Ocean every
Contents Task 1 2 Part A 2 Part B 2 Task 2 4 Part A 4 Part B 4 Task 3 5 Part A 5 Part B 5 Task 1 Part A The Earth is orbited by 2,271 satellites, 10,000 rocks and debris and over 500,000 pieces of junk and smaller debris. But what forces are causing this to occur? Eccentricity is a measurement of how much the conic section deviates from being circular. This means that it is a measurement of how much the orbit (in this case) deviates from the 0 or the center. When a satellite orbits the Earth in moves through an atmosphere depending on the satellite, when this occurs it can begin to venture inwards or outwards of the orbit due to Earth`s seasons and direction change creating a fluctuation in the amount eccentricity the
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Situation Analysis In today’s world, there is enough plastic thrown away each year to circle the world around four times. This is a major global problem that all countries have. Plastic is something we use for a few minutes and throw away. What most people don’t know is these simple plastics actually take centuries to degrade. Take for example a simple plastic bottle, this innocent looking plastic bottle that everyone uses take about 450 years to degrade.
It is no secret that humans have a large issue when it comes to plastic waste, as we produce over 300 million tons of plastic each year, with 50% used once and thrown away. But where does all of our plastic debris go once we discard of them in the trash? The answer, oftentimes, is the ocean. According to a UC Santa Barbara study, over 8 million tons of plastic is thrown into the ocean each year, and since 10% of our trash ends up in the ocean, 90% of which being plastic waste, it is estimated that 5 trillion pieces of plastic, weighing 250,000 tons, are floating in our oceans right now. However, when you visit your local beach, it is unlikely that you see mounds of trash washing ashore.