Americans are so polarized that it's hard to imagine us agreeing on anything. But not
too long ago, there was one thing that pretty much everyone supported.
- Willie, it's obvious that we don't share the same tailor, but we do share the same
feeling about space technology, don't we? - That's right.
- We probably disagree on most things. - I agree with that.
- We're both convinced space technology can help all mankind.
- He means everybody. - Kareem, we'll never see eye to eye on anything.
- Don't be so short-sighted. We can both see that space research benefits everyone.
Okay, America agreed on two things: we liked the space program and making fun of short
dudes. And both still captivate us today—especially space. From amazing things like the latest
Mars rover to amazingly dumb things like the Space Force, we love the cosmos. As George
Lucas said in Babylon 5, it's the final frontier. But lately, there's trouble up there.
- We have been space-bound since the 1950s, making amazing progress and countless scientific
discoveries. But for every advance, we've left something behind: space junk.
- NASA estimates there are 18,000 large pieces and more than 120 million tiny pieces of man-made
space debris in orbit. That is a terrifying amount of garbage in
orbit. Not to be confused with the terrifying amount of garbage in Norbit. But it's too
late to do anything about that. We have to move on. Humans have launched nearly 10,000
satellites into space, but as of January 1, only about a third of them are still operational.
As for the others, many were simply cheaper to abandon than to sustain. Which is also
the title of the Cheaper by the Dozen reboot where Steve Martin slowly gets rid of the
kids. Astronauts have accidentally lost a spatula, a glove, a mirror, and a bag filled
with $100,000 worth of tools. Meanwhile, they’ve deliberately dumped most of their urine overboard,
where it freezes into millions of ice crystals. Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart said
one of the most beautiful sights in space is “a urine dump at sunset.” So, we know
something about Rusty now. But I get it. If a cloud of crystalized urine floated past
my window during quarantine, I’d probably love it, too. A tiny piece of debris may not
sound like anything to worry about. But as the old saying goes: it’s not the size of
the junk, it's the impact velocity at low Earth orbit.
- The debris is moving at about 10 times the speed of a bullet, so even the tiniest specks
can cause severe damage. - If you can think of a two-centimeter ball
bearing up in space—it’s traveling at 17,000 miles per hour.
- Even a piece of debris the size of a small screw could destroy the space station.
Yeah, weird little screws have been causing problems in space ever since Captain Kirk
boldly went all the way with his first alien. Trust me, that woman didn't start out green.
As we add more space junk, a single collision could lead to something called the Kessler
syndrome. - What space debris experts fear most is a
chain reaction where objects break apart in collisions and fragments go on to smash into
other objects, creating more debris. - The largest fear that we have is that we
enter into some sort of cascading effect where one collision triggers the next one. And this
is not anything that will happen within a microsecond, like in the movie Gravity.
No, it's something that would happen very slowly, like Ad Astra. Like, I don't care
if you're Brad Pitt. No one wants to sit through two hours of your dad issues. Now, I know
what you're thinking: “Why should I care about space junk? My kid’s not smart enough
to be an astronaut.” Well, you should care because we rely on satellites for things like
global communication, GPS navigation, and weather data. And if that space infrastructure
is destroyed, some of our technology could be sent back to the 1970s. It could also end
the space program as we know it, because an orbit filled with hypersonic shrapnel would
make it impossible to successfully launch anything. Humanity would be trapped on earth.
So forget about trying to flee the planet when the alien spies finally reveal ourselves
and conquer you. I mean, reveal themselves. Whew! Close one, Sam. The problems caused
by space junk aren't just theoretical; they're already happening.
- This crack in an International Space Station window? It was caused by something the size
of a fleck of paint. - When a fragment hit the Space Shuttle Endeavor
in 2007, it left a hole in the radiator that a bullet would have caused.
- In 2009, a privately owned American satellite and a dead Russian military satellite accidentally
collided and created over 2,000 pieces of debris.
The chances of those two satellites colliding tonight over Pittsburgh increased.
Luckily that was a near miss, but it could have been tragic. Pittsburgh has literally
dozens of good people. Space junk is a tough problem to fix because there’s no global
legal system regulating orbit. We don't need a Space Force, we need space law—Tuesdays
at 10 on NBC! And tune in this fall to Space Fire, Space P.D., and Space Med, all from
Dick Wolf’s Space Chicago universe. We're more than six decades into the space age,
and there's still no legal definition of space debris, so treaties don't address the issue.
And countries have no legal obligation to remove their debris. Instead, all we have
are unenforceable guidelines set up by the UN’s Office for Outer Space Affairs. Which
I'm assuming is just Ashley Madison for horn-dog astronauts. So far, the UN’s recommendations
have generally been ignored or ineffective. Fortunately, there is some hope. Reusable
rockets mean less junk left in our geosynchronous trunk. And astro-nerds around the world are
inventing their own ways to remove space trash—from a net that can tie up debris, to harpoons
that can spear junk, to giant robot maids with vacuum cleaners. But even with these
state-of-the-art innovations, we still need international regulations and cooperation
to protect the planet’s space infrastructure. Otherwise, we may face a grim future with
no more space exploration, no more of the technology that makes our modern lives possible,
and worst of all, no more beautiful golden showers for our brave astronauts. Let's do
this for Rusty.