The
Kessler Syndrome is a scenario, proposed by
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
scientist Donald J. Kessler in a 1978 publication, where the volume of
space debrisSpace debris, also known as orbital debris, space junk and space waste, are objects in orbit around Earth created by humans that no longer serve any useful purpose...
in
Low Earth orbitA low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km...
is so high that objects in orbit are frequently struck by debris, creating even more debris and a greater risk of further impacts. The implication of this scenario is that the escalating amount of debris in orbit could eventually render
space explorationSpace exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
, and even the use of
satelliteIn the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s, infeasible for many generations.
Every satellite, space probe and manned mission has the potential to create space debris.
The
Kessler Syndrome is a scenario, proposed by
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
scientist Donald J. Kessler in a 1978 publication, where the volume of
space debrisSpace debris, also known as orbital debris, space junk and space waste, are objects in orbit around Earth created by humans that no longer serve any useful purpose...
in
Low Earth orbitA low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km...
is so high that objects in orbit are frequently struck by debris, creating even more debris and a greater risk of further impacts. The implication of this scenario is that the escalating amount of debris in orbit could eventually render
space explorationSpace exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
, and even the use of
satelliteIn the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavor. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
s, infeasible for many generations.
Debris generation and destruction
Every satellite, space probe and manned mission has the potential to create space debris. As the number of satellites in orbit grows and old satellites become obsolete, the risk of a cascading Kessler Syndrome becomes greater.
Fortunately, at the most commonly used Low Earth Orbits residual air drag helps keep the zones clear. Collisions that occur under this altitude are also less of an issue, since the energy lost in the collision results in fragment orbits having
perigeeIn celestial mechanics, an apsis, plural apsides is the point of greatest or least distance of the elliptical orbit of an object from its center of attraction, which is generally the center of mass of the system....
below this altitude.
At altitudes above the levels where atmospheric drag is significant, the time required for orbital decay is much longer. Slight atmospheric drag, lunar perturbations, and solar-wind drag can gradually bring debris down to lower altitudes where fragments finally re-enter, but at very high altitudes this can take millennia.
Seriousness
The Kessler Syndrome is especially insidious because of the "
domino effectA cascading failure is a failure in a system of interconnected parts in which the failure of a part can trigger the failure of successive parts.- Cascading failure in power transmission :...
" and "
feedback runawayFeedback runaway is a situation in a feedback system where feedback causes an undesirable situation to become worse. The most common use of the term is in thermal runaway, when an increase in temperature leads to changes that cause further increase of temperature.In computer science, process...
". Any impact between two objects of sizable mass
spallSpall are flakes of a material that are broken off a larger solid body and can be produced by a variety of mechanisms, including as a result of projectile impact, corrosion, weathering, cavitation, or excessive rolling pressure...
s off shrapnel debris from the force of collision. Each piece of shrapnel now has the potential to cause further damage, creating even more space debris. With a large enough collision (such as one between a space station and a defunct satellite), the amount of cascading debris could be enough to render Low Earth Orbit essentially impassable.
Avoidance and reduction
To minimize the chances of damage to other vehicles, designers of a new vehicle or satellite are frequently required to demonstrate that it can be safely disposed of at the end of its life, for example by use of a controlled
atmospheric reentryAtmospheric reentry refers to the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a planet from outer space, in the case of Earth from an altitude above the "edge of space." This article primarily addresses the process of controlled reentry of vehicles which are intended...
system or a boost into a
graveyard orbitA graveyard orbit, also called a supersynchronous orbit, junk orbit or disposal orbit, is an orbit significantly above synchronous orbit where spacecraft are intentionally placed at the end of their operational life. It is a measure performed in order to lower the probability of collisions with...
.
One technology for the bigger fragments that can be tracked is the
laser broomA laser broom is a proposed ground-based laser beam-powered propulsion system whose purpose is to sweep space debris out of the path of the International Space Station....
, a multimegawatt land-based laser that could be used to target fragments. When the laser light hits a fragment, one side of the fragment would
ablateAblation means removal of material from the surface of an object by vaporization, chipping, or other erosive processes. The term occurs in space physics associated with atmospheric reentry, in glaciology, medicine, and passive fire protection.-Space physics:...
, creating a thrust that would change the
eccentricityIn astrodynamics, under standard assumptions, any orbit must be of conic section shape. The eccentricity of this conic section, the orbit's eccentricity, is an important parameter of the orbit that defines its absolute shape...
of the remains of the fragment until it would re-enter harmlessly.
Kessler Syndrome in popular culture
Generation of space debris to the point where space travel is impacted has been a subject of several works of science fiction, including various movies and novels.
- The 2007 video game Mass Effect
Mass Effect is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare for the Xbox 360 and then ported to Microsoft Windows by Demiurge Studios. The Xbox 360 edition was released worldwide in November 2007 published by Microsoft Game Studios...
does not reference it directly, but the in-game encyclopedia describes being in Earth orbit without protective shields as being dangerous because of debris.
- In the anime
is animation originating in Japan. The world outside Japan regards anime as "Japanese animation". Anime originated about 1917.Anime, like manga , has a large audience in Japan and high recognition throughout the world...
series Cowboy Bebopis a 1998 Japanese anime series directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, written by Keiko Nobumoto, and produced by Sunrise. Its 26 episodes comprise a complete storyline: Set in 2071, the series follows the misadventures and tragedies of a group of bounty hunters, or "cowboys", traveling on their...
, an accident in space has caused debris to cloud space around Earth. Entering and leaving the atmosphere is dangerous, and falling debris makes living on the Earth's surface risky.
- Kessler Syndrome was explicitly mentioned by name in the manga/anime series Planetes
is a Japanese hard science fiction manga by Makoto Yukimura. It was adapted as a 26-episode television anime by Sunrise, which was broadcast on NHK from October 2003 through April 2004. The story revolves around a team of space debris collectors based in the debris ship Toy Box in the year 2075...
, while the efforts to remediate the problem serve as a running backdrop for the series.
- An ablation cascade that rendered space travel impossible is a plot driver in "Under the Covenant Stars," a short story by John Barnes
John Barnes is an American science fiction author, whose stories often explore questions of individual moral responsibility within a larger social context. Social criticism is woven throughout his plots. The four novels in his Thousand Cultures series pose serious questions about the effects of...
.
- An ablation cascade is part of the background to Ken Macleod
Ken MacLeod , an award-winning Scottish science fiction writer, lives in South Queensferry near Edinburgh. He graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in zoology and has worked as a computer programmer and written a masters thesis on biomechanics.His novels often explore socialist, communist...
's 1999 novel The Sky Road.
- In the 2008 Disney movie WALL-E
WALL-E is a 2008 computer-animated science fiction film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and directed by Andrew Stanton. It follows the story of a robot named WALL-E who is designed to clean up a waste-covered Earth far in the future...
, Earth orbit is depicted as completely clogged with satellite debris.
- The late 60s sci-fi series UFO
UFO is a British television science fiction series created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson and produced by the Anderson's and Lew Grade's Century 21 Productions for Grade's ITC Entertainment company...
has an episode concerning clearing of space debris in earth orbit. (Ambush/renamed Conflict).
- Bill Maher, host of "Real Time with Bill Maher", mentioned the Kessler effect on April 3, 2009 in his weekly edition of "New Rules".
- An article in the July, 2009 issue of Popular Mechanics
Popular Mechanics is an American magazine devoted to science and technology. It was first published January 11, 1902 by H. H. Windsor, and has been owned since 1958 by the Hearst Corporation...
by Glenn Harlan Reynolds discusses the Kessler Syndrome in regards to the February, 2009 satellite collisionThe 2009 satellite collision was the first major collision between two intact artificial satellites in Earth orbit. The collision occurred at 16:56 UTC on February 10, 2009, at above the Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia, when Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 collided...
and how international law may need to address the problem to help prevent future incidents.
See also
- Space debris
Space debris, also known as orbital debris, space junk and space waste, are objects in orbit around Earth created by humans that no longer serve any useful purpose...
- Laser broom
A laser broom is a proposed ground-based laser beam-powered propulsion system whose purpose is to sweep space debris out of the path of the International Space Station....
- 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test
The 2007 Chinese anti-satellite missile test was conducted by China on January 11, 2007. A Chinese weather satellite — the FY-1C polar orbit satellite of the Fengyun series, at an altitude of , with a mass of 750 kg — was destroyed by a kinetic kill vehicle traveling with a speed of...
- 2009 satellite collision
The 2009 satellite collision was the first major collision between two intact artificial satellites in Earth orbit. The collision occurred at 16:56 UTC on February 10, 2009, at above the Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia, when Iridium 33 and Kosmos-2251 collided...
External links