How to avoid the threat of debris in space?

It takes a little bit to capture ~ n methods to regain a clean and flawless space.

Only by removing large objects in orbit can the potential threat of future space flight be avoided. However, controlling the space environment is much more difficult than controlling the ground environment. No matter technically or economically, there is no feasible way to remove these space junk at present, and people seem to have repeatedly embarked on the same old road of "pollution first, then treatment" as the earth environment. It is understood that if the spacecraft flies at an altitude of 600 kilometers, it will rotate around the earth for 25 to 30 years. If you are at an altitude of 1000 km, you can fly to 400 1 year. A little higher, it will almost become an eternal object. Now there are more and more such "longevity" garbage in space, and it will be extremely difficult to remove it.

For many years, researchers all over the world have been actively exploring and solving the problem of space junk. In addition to calling on human beings to improve their awareness of space environmental protection, space experts have also put forward many countermeasures.

As early as 1947, whipple, an American scientist, put forward a method to protect spacecraft from space debris flying at high speed. In order to replace the increasingly thick protective layer embedded on the surface of the spacecraft, whipple suggested installing a protective screen in front of the protective layer. When the space debris collides with the protective screen, the protective screen is shattered and the space debris is smashed into powder, thus eliminating the threat to the spacecraft. In May 2007, two Russian astronauts on the International Space Station walked in space for five and a half hours and installed a metal cover for the space station to reduce the threat of space debris to the space station. Each lid weighs 9 kg, 0.6 m wide and 0.9 m long. An important feature of this protective screen is that it is coated with a special material. When space debris collides with it, the energy generated by the collision makes it have an explosive chemical reaction with space garbage, which promotes the process of space debris turning into powder. The mesh protective screen can also increase the lateral area where space debris collides with it and reduce the collision intensity. It is estimated that if the equipment built by Russia for the space station is upgraded, the risk of the space station being crashed by space junk will be reduced from 9% to 5%.

"Suicide Satellite" Scientists from the University of Surrey in the UK recently invented the "space scavenger" satellite. It is only as small as a football and weighs only 5.9 kilograms. It is equipped with four small cameras. Once space junk is detected, it will attach to the junk and push it into the atmosphere. At this time, satellites and garbage will be burned and mutually assured destruction. These suicide satellites cost 654.38 million pounds each. Once this technology is mature, the University of Surrey may cooperate with Russia to launch the first experimental "space sweeper" satellites using Russian space facilities. American scientists have designed a spaceship named "Spaceworker", which consists of 12 space "garbage bins" and will run in geosynchronous orbit. When abandoned satellites or debris in space fly by, its robotic arm controlled by computer will easily catch the target and put it in the "garbage bin", and then cut it into pieces, causing it to fall into the earth's atmosphere and set itself on fire.

According to foreign media reports, an American company has recently developed a new method-"termination rope", which can quickly get scrapped satellites out of low-earth orbit. It is a 5-kilometer-long thin thread, which is wound into a coil and placed inside the satellite. When the satellite reaches the designated position, the "tail rope" will automatically open. Under the joint action of the ionosphere and the earth's magnetic field, a continuous current can be generated on this conductor that stretches for 5 kilometers. In this way, the earth's magnetic field will pull it down, which will affect the satellite's gradual fall. This process will continue until the satellite re-enters the atmosphere and is completely burned there. According to experts' calculations, this method can speed up the de-orbit of satellites very simply and cheaply. There is also a device similar to the "end rope", which adds a collection net to the satellite and drags it with a 5 km long collection rope. When the satellite reaches the designated position, release the long collection rope. Under the action of the earth's magnetic field, the net bag is perpendicular to the earth's side. After loading a certain amount of garbage, it will fall into the atmosphere and burn. In this way, the space junk that was supposed to fly around the earth for hundreds of years can be eliminated within ten days.

Laser broom NASA's International Space Station is experimenting with a laser broom. The main function of this device is to clean the space debris with the diameter of 1 to 10 cm that may run in the orbit of the space station. After the "laser broom" locks a space junk target, it will emit a laser beam to illuminate the end of space junk far from the earth, so that it will partially sublimate into gas. Just like the principle of jet plane, it will use the reaction force of gas to push the remaining space debris to move to the earth, and finally enter the atmosphere, which will cause strong friction with the atmosphere and burn, thus clearing it out of the orbit of the International Space Station.

In order to refuel or maintain the fuel-exhausted satellites, we can turn to the British "orbital repair" and the American "orbital express" satellites. They are the saviors of satellites, which can extend the service time of satellites by about 10 years, thus reducing the generation of space junk in disguise. According to statistics, by 20 1 1 year, the service life of more than 80 communication satellites launched in 1980s and 1990s will come to an end. They will be the aid targets for track repair. By 20 15, more than 100 satellites will be rescued.