Space junk

Analysis and Comment (7)

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The impact on society from the next solar maximum is predicted to be worse than the last. NASA

Divert power to shields – the solar maximum is coming

By Brett Carter, RMIT University

Over the past few months our planet has been impacted by an increasing number of solar explosions that have erupted from the sun’s surface. Even though next year’s predicted solar maximum – the period…
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Unless something is done about space junk, it might become too unsafe to have satellites in Low-Earth Orbit. ESA

You, me and debris: Australia should help clear ‘space junk’

By Brett Biddington

At some point in the next few months, Australia will get its first ever national space policy. The release of the report, following consultation by experts in the space industry, will be a defining moment…
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The amateur radio satellite, Australis Oscar V, is an important part of our spacefaring history. Alice Gorman

Saving space junk, our cultural heritage in orbit

By Alice Gorman, Flinders University

A few weeks ago astronauts on the International Space Station hid in escape capsules following concerns a piece of space junk was going to collide with the station. The collision didn’t eventuate but…
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Nearly 8,000 objects have been identified for possible collision with Earth. Pat Dalton...

Space invasions: what to do when stuff falls from the sky

By Alice Gorman, Flinders University

In the past six months, it seems something has fallen from the sky every second minute. In September, the UARS satellite re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere, causing a media frenzy. In October, the German…
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A computer-generated artists impression of the thousands of objects in orbit around Earth. AFP

Space junk and the environment: it’s a very dark picture indeed

By Fred Watson, Australian Astronomical Observatory

Since the launch of the first artificial satellite in 1957 – the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1 – countries around the world have been putting satellites and spacecraft into Earth orbit. While the majority…

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