Left unchecked, the space around our planet could get so cluttered with debris that we might not be able to use some orbits anymore, according to the latest European Space Agency (ESA) report on the space environment.
The report, published April 1, states that although new standards to curb space debris are becoming more widely adopted, they aren’t enough to keep the debris currently in orbit from colliding with itself — creating dangerous debris clouds in a runaway process known as “Kessler syndrome.”
“Even if we created no new space debris, it would not be enough to prevent a runaway series of collisions and fragmentations,” ESA said in a statement. “The actual number of space debris objects larger than 1 cm in size – large enough to be capable of causing catastrophic damage – is estimated to be over 1.2 million, with over 50,000 objects of those larger than 10 cm.”“Writer Fuel” is a series of cool real-world stories that might inspire your little writer heart. Check out our Writer Fuel page on the LimFic blog for more inspiration.
