Space Debris and Other Threats from Outer Space

✍ Scribed by Joseph N. Pelton (auth.)

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag New York
• Year: 2013
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 85
• Series: SpringerBriefs in Space Development
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The mounting problem of space debris in low earth orbit and its threat to the operation of application satellites has been increasingly recognized as space activities increase. The efforts of the Inter Agency Space Debris Coordinating Committee (IADC) and UN COPUS have now led to international guidelines to mitigate the creation of new debris. This book discusses the technical studies being developed for active removal processes and otherwise mitigating problems of space debris, particularly in low earth orbit. This book also considers threats to space systems and the Earth that comes from natural causes such as asteroids, coronal mass ejections, and radiation. After more than half a century of space applications and explorations, the time has come to consider ways to provide sustainability for long-term space activities.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-vii
Serious Threats from Outer Space....Pages 1-15
The Space Debris Threat and the Kessler Syndrome....Pages 17-23
Different Approaches to the Space Debris Problem....Pages 25-30
Who is Addressing Orbital Debris Problems?....Pages 31-34
Technological Approaches to Debris Removal or Mitigation....Pages 35-44
The Threat of Space Weather....Pages 45-50
Space Radiation, the Ozone Layer and Other Environmental Concerns....Pages 51-56
NEOS, Comets, Asteroids, Bolides and Meteors....Pages 57-63
Protecting Against Comets and Potentially Hazardous Asteroids....Pages 65-67
Top Ten Things to Know About Threats from Outer Space....Pages 69-77
Back Matter....Pages 79-84

✦ Subjects

Aerospace Technology and Astronautics; Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Sciences; Pollution, general