• Question: Do you think the vast amount of active and abandoned robots in space could cause a problem or threat?

    Asked by Tamsin to Andrea, Charlie 🚀, Col Op, Kirsty, Vinita on 17 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Kirsty Lindsay

      Kirsty Lindsay answered on 17 Jun 2016:

      In Low Earth Orbit- yes, space junk can be a problem if it hits an active spacecraft. In deep space there is lots of space, so you are not likely to meet any, so no problem.

    • Photo: Andrea Boyd

      Andrea Boyd answered on 17 Jun 2016:

      Space debris is a large problem. Most countries didn’t bother to think about it because there was no legal or financial consequences to leaving rubbish in orbit. Now in some countries there are laws so the new spacecraft have to build in a way to deorbit themselves so they don’t add to the rubbish, but old rocket booster and even paint specks float around and cause issues. And lots of countries didn’t make these kind of space laws yet. Lots of places are working on trying to fix this problem in space like at ESA Clean Space: http://blogs.esa.int/cleanspace/

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