Space junk out of control

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There is a problem at hand, one that will have to be solved very quickly as it threatens to endanger future space travels and even our satellites keeping our world connected. This problem is space junk.

Scientists have come forward stating “space junk is getting out of control”. This is a problem that was destined to happen as for many years junk has been accumulating in space, mostly composing of old satellite parts and rockets used to get these satellites up into space. The main threat of space junk is the fact that these small and big particles are moving around the earth at speeds of about 22 000 miles/hour, which at these speeds even the smallest piece of space junk could cause great amount of damage to space shuttles and orbiting satellites, when collision occurs. The effects of space junk is already showing, there has been a few instances where orbiting satellites have needed repairing and every time a space shuttle is due to launch, it has to be moved to a place where there is a gap in the atmosphere clear of space junk. Scientists say that if this problem is not dealt with soon, there will be no gap for space shuttles and satellites to travel through in future, causing a great problem as we will not be able to maintain and repair satellites already in orbit and this could possible send us back into the era where connecting the world is impossible, cell phones will not function, there will be no internet and the list goes on and on, but there might be a suitable solution.

Scientists have proposed a magnetic/plasma net that will as a net be used to capture and trap space junk and pull it down into the earths atmosphere, burning up these space junk particles and eventually getting rid of the space junk problem, but with this comes another problem, who will build this net? Some propose that NASA should, and there is the problem that this magnetic/plasma net could also be used as a war weapon against other countries satellites.

This net does sound like the answer to the problem and I dare say the only one suitable to carry out this large scale project, so the world will have to work together and put its differences aside or we all will be looking up at skies filled with space junk soon and writing letters to one another.