BBC News - Space junk could be tackled by housekeeping spacecraft

BBC News - Space junk could be tackled by housekeeping spacecraft

A great source of pride for me is that our students tend to be environmentally aware and strive to do their part to combat waste and decrease their carbon footprints. It is easy to see the fruits of student labor around campus with regard to this environmental effort. Everywhere you look on campus there are recycle bins, an increasing number of electronic boards to save paper waste, tray-less dining and the like. While the earth will be a better and greener place for our efforts, we must also look to the sky to focus our environmental efforts. "Space Junk" is of real concern to those familiar with how low orbit space is used. Over the decades debris has cluttered low orbit space, where satellites that deliver everything from television service to defense are stationed. An increase in debris and the possibility of that debris collecting together and moving as larger objects (the Kessler syndrome) may pose serious risk to other satellites and the space station and make low orbit virtually unusable. Our reliance on satellite technology should make this phenomenon of interest to you. It is not likely that our dependence on satellites will decrease any time soon so I encourage you to educate yourself and learn more about the dangers of space junk and the implications if something is not done to clean it up.