(ORDO NEWS) — We have a serious space debris problem – and it will only get worse as more government agencies and private companies launch satellites, spacecraft and even tourists into space.
While some of what we send into orbit ends up being sucked back into Earth‘s atmosphere and burned up, much of it remains until we figure out how to deal with the problem.
According to the forecasts of University of Utah professor Jake Abbott, if you do not start solving the problem in the near future, then soon the Earth may become very similar to Saturn.
“The earth is on its way to getting rings of its own, ” Abbott said . – Only they will just be out of junk.
Problematic space debris
According to the European Space Agency, there are about 170 million pieces of space debris in orbit over one millimeter in size. About 670,000 of them are more than a centimeter in diameter.
With companies like SpaceX launching their own constellations of broadband satellites, our planet’s orbit is busier than ever. This means that we are at high risk of collisions, which could lead to more space debris.
Now scientists are trying to figure out how to solve this problem. Abbott believes that one of the ways to collect space debris could be the use of magnets.
By rotating a magnet at the end of the arm to create special electrical currents called whirlpools, you can manipulate pieces of space debris to slow them down enough that they “collapse” into the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up.
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