Countries like Nigeria or Indonesia face a higher risk of falling rocket fragments, said astronomers
(NASA/Bill Ingalls https://bit.ly/3O9ruPZ)
Do you think the chances of getting hit by space junk are low? Think again.
Canadian astronomers have calculated that there is a 10% chance of being victim to a rocket part falling uncontrollably into the Earth's atmosphere.
Also, the greatest risk falls on the countries of the Global South, like Nigeria, Indonesia, and Mexico.
Large fragments of space objects making an uncontrolled re-entry into the atmosphere can cause damage to human settlements.
This happened in May 2020, when debris from the 18-ton Long March 5B rocket hit two villages in Côte d'Ivoire, Africa. A year later, another similar stage fell into the Indian Ocean.
At least one victim of a rocket fragment is known: a fragment of a Delta II rocket fell on Lottie Williams in January 1997.
Now, a team of astronomers from the University of British Columbia has published the results of a human risk assessment of the uncontrolled re-entry of launch vehicle bodies.
The researchers, led by Michael Byers, used data from rocket launches and bodies in Earth orbit.
Just in 2020, more than 60% of low Earth orbit launches resulted in a large rocket fragment in orbit that could remain there for days, months, or even years.
Between May 4, 1992 and May 5, 2022, more than 1,500 launch vehicle bodies were deorbited. Of these, more than 70% had uncontrolled descent.
Assuming that the rocket body is capable of causing damage over an area of about 10 square meters, the probability of having one or more victims in a decade is about 10%. Yikes.
Byers’ team suggests that many of the rocket bodies making uncontrolled re-entry are associated with launches into geostationary orbits located near the equator.
As a result, the cumulative risk to humans is much higher in states of the Global South, like Nigeria, Indonesia, and Mexico.
This results in an unfair situation since the major space powers that host these launches face a reduced risk.
The risk is exacerbated by population poverty, which makes many buildings in the Global South less durable.
In order to reduce this risks, the team proposes to actively use means (like engines) to make controlled entry into the atmosphere.
They also suggest developing uniform standards for controlling the amount of space debris for all countries conducting rocket launches.
Source:
Hello @sarahjay1, I am quite surprised by this important issue, I think that the risks of damage from "falling from the sky" of "space debris" should be done during the studies prior to the launch of rockets, space capsules, etc.
It is not possible that after having caused damage to populations and after registering a fatality, they are going to carry out investigations in this regard.
It seems to me a great lack of ethics of the "space stations".
I really liked this post.
To be completely honest, historically the space powers cared very little aout the rest of us. Fortunetaly that's changing, and new missions are taking this factor into consideration.
Thank you very much por liking my posts.
Congratulations, your post has been supported by @steem4nigeria. This is the official community account of Nigerians on Steemit. You can reach us here on our community account.
Discord Facebook Twitter