Damage from space debris could be "catastrophic"

http://www.awhir.com/design/nasa/Meteoroids%20and%20Orbital%20Debris--%20Effects%20on%20Spacecraft%20rp1408.pdf / August 1997 Page 9-10

Title: Meteoroids and Orbital Debris: Effects on Spacecraft
Total penetration of a wall can cause damage more severe than partial penetration. When a structural wall is penetrated by hypervelocity particles, a debris cloud is created and spreads broken wall and particle materials radially in the shape of a cone (fig. 7). This spreading mass of energy could severely damage electrical circuits, thermal insulation, or other delicate components. In a liveable environment such as a space station, the expanding debris cloud of particles is accompanied by a pressure pulse and an extremely bright flash of light. Secondary results could be fire and explosions of internal components. Perforation of fuel tanks, batteries, and other pressure vessels could lead to more explosions, depending on the fluid or gas inside the vessels and the amount of pressure. A very large perforation in a structural wall could weaken the wall itself. Because of high reentry loads, this is especially important to vehicles required to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere. Finally, perforations could simply cause a single component to fail. Depending on the component, this failure could be functional, critical, or catastrophic. For example, perforation of a small, low-pressure air tank stored outside the manned modules of a space station would probably be labeled a “functional” failure. However, if it is the only air tank left or the pressure is high enough to cause sufficient thrust to disorient the station, this failure might be labeled “critical.” If the disorientation is too severe to allow an attitude recovery, it would be labeled “catastrophic.
We Can Not Colonize Space While Space Debris Is Still There
Taylor Dinerman Taylor Dinerman is a well-known and respected space writer regarding military and civilian space activities since 1983

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/279/1 / 11/29/04 

Title: Space debris: not just an American problem?
All too often, people claim that space debris constitutes an imminent crisis. They say that there is so much stuff is up there that it is going to destroy numerous satellites and, eventually, render any human activity in orbit impossible. There are, in fact, several million kilograms of man-made gear, some of it in the form of operational satellites and spacecraft, and some of it useless junk. A few experts say that, eventually, there will be so much garbage up there that humanity will be confined to the Earth whether it wants to leave or not.
Even tiny pieces of debris can make space unusable
Robert Lee Hotz, science columnist for The The Wall Street Journal

/ February 27, 2009 

Title: Harmless Debris on Earth Is Devastating in Orbit
The more pieces of debris up there, the more chance you'll have another collision," says Geoffrey Forden at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Near Earth, space is really very crowded.there may be millions of pieces of man-made debris in orbit. Nobody knows how much.The wreckage may hinder manned spaceflight as well. It may be too dangerous for space shuttles to fly through the debris.Many spacecraft, including the space shuttle, are in some places vulnerable to particles five millimeters in size or below can crack the space shuttle's windshield. Anything larger than a garden pea can be devastating, but space networks usually only track objects bigger than about four inches across."

Removal of space debris is critical to the future of the space program
International Global Navigation Satellite Systems Society 

Inc, Ignss Society. "IGNSS Symposium 2007." IGNSS Society Inc Home. Web. 6 Dec. 2007. . / December 6, 2007 

Title: IGNSS Symposium 2007
Impacts from space debris on any space shuttle or space station can cause a catastrophic effect, leading to irreparable damages or even failure of space missions This demonstrates the importance of a space debris monitoring network as a guidance tool to locate space debris, because it reduces the possibility of space vehicle to space debris collision, thus benefiting our space industry.

Even tiny debris decrease space development
Scheetz, Lori Georgetown International Environmental Law Review

http://www.spacedebate.org/argument/2213 / Fall 2006 

Title: Infusing Environmental Ethics into the Space Weapons Dialogue.
It is important to note that debris orbiting approximately 800 kilometers above Earth resulting from testing, deployment, and use of space weapons will reside there for decades. After debris settles into orbit at more than 1,500 kilometers above Earth's surface, it will remain there indefinitely. Collisions involving debris exceeding just one centimeter can be disastrous. In LEO, a marble-sized debris fragment can collide with satellites "with about the same energy as a one ton safe dropped from the top of a five story building." When these fragments collide, the quantity of debris increases. This prospect is compounded if each nation, in the long-term future, rationally takes advantage of the space commons and introduces its own weapons systems and Space Debris Accumulation Risks Making Space Unusable for all Purposes.
More satellites are planned for launch, but threats are high
It Scott Spence Raytheon Space Fence Program, Integrated Defense Systems.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/09/space-debris/ / July 9th, 2011 

Title: The Space Debris Threat And How To Handle
$6.6 billion spent in 2008 for both non-classified defense and civil programs. But the increasing importance of space to daily life, global commerce and national security has given rise to a major concern about the vulnerability of American space systems to disruption in the event of international conflict. Consequently, more than 128 satellites are planned for launch in the next decade driven largely by our nation’s defense sector. But this growing number of satellites in orbit around the Earth has made space a much more hazardous place in recent years. Low orbits have now become so crowded that operators are regularly forced to make emergency maneuvers by firing thrusters to avoid disasters.

Space will be inaccessible if nothing is done
Lieutenant Colonel Joseph S. Imburgia a Judge Advocate in the United States Air Force and is presently assigned as a legal exchange officer to the Directorate of Operations and International Law, Defence Legal, Australian Defence Force, Canberra, Australia. He is a member of the Tennessee and the Supreme Court of the United States bars, and he is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law - Vol 44:589 / April 4th, 20114 

Title: Space Debris and Its Threat to National Security: A Proposal for a Binding International Agreement to Clean Up the Junk
The “cascade effect” is “the greatest fear of those who study the problem of orbital debris.” Even before the February 2009 satellite collision, many scientists agreed “that the number of objects in orbit had surpassed a critical mass,” the point at which “orbital debris would collide with other space objects, which in turn would create new debris that would cause [a chain reaction of] even more collisions.” This “chain reaction” is often referred to as the cascade effect. Some experts believe that once space debris collisions begin, they will be impossible to stop. The fear is that these cascading “collisions will eventually produce an impenetrable cloud of fragmentation debris that will encase Earth[, making] space travel . . . ‘a thing of the past’ and . . . obstruct[ing] our dream of colonizing outer space.” Experts warn that if the cascade effect occurs, space will be unusable for centuries due to the time it will take for all of the debris to eventually disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere. If space debris is not immediately countered by preventative and removal measures, the cascade effect could occur in little more than a decade. In February 2008, Dr. Geoffrey Forden, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology physicist and space programs expert, stated that the United States is “in danger of a runaway escalation of space debris.” He argued that the danger of a cascade effect is a greater threat to U.S. space assets than the threat of anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons. NASA scientists have warned about the threat of the cascade effect since the late 1970s. In the decades since, experts have worried that collisions caused by the cascade effect “would expand for centuries, spreading chaos through the heavens” and multiplying space “debris to levels threatening sustainable space access.” “Today, next year or next decade, some piece of whirling debris will start the cascade, experts say.” According to Nicholas L. Johnson, NASA’s chief scientist for orbital debris, the cascade is now “inevitable” unless something is done to remove the debris. Experts believe that if nothing is done to address the space debris problem, the amount of orbiting space debris greater than ten centimeters in size will increase to over 50,000 objects in the next fifty years. Considering that the number of objects in orbit has increased drastically since the beginning of 2007, the problem is, unfortunately, only worsening.

_______________________________________________________________________________

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/01/0119_060119_space_junk.html / January 19, 2006 

Title: Space Junk Cleanup Needed, NASA Experts Warn
Three accidental collisions between catalogued space-junk objects larger than four inches (ten centimeters) have been documented from late 1991 to early 2005. The most recent collision occurred a year ago. A 31-year-old U.S. rocket body hit a fragment from the third stage of a Chinese launch vehicle that exploded in March 2000.


Space insuraunce will cover the saftey expences needed for travel.
Hall, G. E. •Vice President at SRA International •Rear Admiral, Commandant, Industrial College of the Armed Forces National Defense University at United States Navy •Rear Admiral, Commander Amphibious Group TWO, Expeditionary / Strike Group TWO at United States Navy Rear Admiral, Deputy Chief of Staff, Operations, North American Treaty Organization at NATO Rear Admiral / Commander / Space Information Operations Element - Forward at United States Navy Operational Naval Aviator - Deployed Worldwide at United States Navy see less... 

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers -- Part G -- Journal of Aerospace Engineering (Professional Engineering Publishing); Dec2007, Vol. 221 Issue 6, p915-924, 10p, 5 Charts, 1 Graph. / 9/17/07 Page 916

Title: Space debris – an insurance perspective
From the early 1980s increasing numbers of commercial spacecraft owner/operators began to seek cover for their businesses – mainly cover for loss on launch. Government space projects were typically not insured at that time, but increasingly governments are now buying space services from commercial service providers, rather than owning and operating their own spacecraft. This growth in commercial space has had the effect of supporting the development of the space insurance sector over time.Debris in space is regarded as a collision-threat to an operating spacecraft or vehicle. Debris that (re)enters from space is regarded as a threat to humans, or property on land or sea or in aircraft. Debris that originates on earth (e.g. launch explosions) is regarded similarly as such a threat. In all cases, the result is damage – to the spacecraft/vehicle in orbit or to humans, or property on earth/in aircraft. Insurance policies refer to the risk of such events as perils; to the event itself as anoccurrence.

Space accidents cause long-term suffering of the space program, leading to no new discoveries
Traci Watson Astronomer

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20110126/1achallenger26_cv.art.htm / 5/10/11 

Title: How Challenger brought NASA down to earth
A quarter-century later, however, that promise seems no more enduring than the smoke from Challenger that hovered over the Florida coast that chilly morning in January 1986. Some experts contend that the loss of Challenger gave America's human space program a significant push toward its twilight status today. In the years after Challenger, America's human space program "has limped along," says Joan Johnson-Freese of the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., who has written several books about space policy. "There have been great plans that have been barely met, if at all." The Challenger loss shrank America's fleet of shuttles from four to three, and forced important shuttle missions to be put on hold or canceled. As directed by President George W. Bush, NASA is about to retire the shuttle this year, even though it has no replacement in the wings. NASA succeeded in building a huge space station in orbit, but proposals by various presidents to send crews to the moon and Mars have come to nothing. Challenger's legacy is more complex than what Reagan hoped for. The accident taught NASA much about the vulnerabilities of the shuttle and how to make space travel safer, space specialists say. However, some lessons from the accident eventually were forgotten, with a major consequence being the loss in 2003 of shuttle Columbia, which disintegrated on re-entry over Texas, killing seven astronauts. The Challenger accident "was significant, because it set in train a whole set of changes at NASA," says Roger Launius, senior curator in space history at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. But eventually, "a kind of entropy sets in." That hardly seemed possible in 1986, when the accident plunged NASA into anguished soul-searching. Investigators appointed by Reagan found that NASA repeatedly had ignored serious technical problems. They criticized what they called NASA's "silent safety program" and "flawed" decision-making. The investigators traced the specific cause of the accident to the shuttle's O-rings, rubbery seals in the two slender rocket boosters that flank the spacecraft. The defective O-rings allowed hot gases and flames to seep out, creating a blowtorch toward the spacecraft. The investigators' findings led NASA to make a range of upgrades to the shuttle, which made the spacecraft safer — if not exactly safe. But other lessons from the accident continue to hang over the space agency:

Future space missions are key to saving the human race
Ruth Suehle Writer for the Cato institute, PHD in journalism

http://opensource.com/life/11/4/future-space-exploration-publics-hands-what-can-collaboration-do / 27 Apr 2011 

Title: The future of space exploration is in the public's hands. What can collaboration do?
A year ago, Steven Hawking called for a manned return to the Moon to build a base for travel through the solar system and a manned Mars mission by 2025, not just for the sake of science, but for the survival of humanity. "Life on Earth is at the ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically engineered virus or other dangers," he said. "I don't think the human race will survive the next 1,000 years unless we spread into space." Maybe if we're lucky, the answer to further space discoveries--and if Hawking's right, the continuation of the human race--is at the intersection of collaboration, crowdsourced ideas, and a private space industry

President Obama Vision for the Future in Space

Suzanne Presto •General Assignments Reporter at Voice of America Attended University of North Carolina 

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Obama-Signs-Legislation-on-NASAs-Future-104734699.html / October 11, 2010 

Title: Obama Signs Legislation on NASA's Future

No. 222631 File: ADV-Safety :: Safety Advantage Cut By Lexi Brey

Total Time: 0:18 Cut Time: 0:00 (at 200 wpm)

Howard A. Baker, J.H. Huebert, Walter Block Researcher in Air and Space Law for the University of New Brunswick, J.D., University of Chicago,Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Economics, Ph.D at Colombia University

heinonline.org / 1989 Page 55,281

Title: Space Debris: Law and Policy in the United States, Space Environmentalism, Property Rights, and the Law

No. 222644 File: ADV-Safety Cut By Tonya Powers

Total Time: 0:59 Cut Time: 0:00 (at 200 wpm)

Evans, S.1 Steven.W.Evans@nasa.gov Lewis, H.1 Williamsen, J.2 Evans, H.2 Bohl, W.2 1NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Huntsville, AL 35812, USA 2University of Denver Research Institute (DRI), Denver, CO 80208, USA

Advances in Space Research; Sep2004, Vol. 34 Issue 5, p1104-1108, 5p http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=fd11db9d-e52a-4ac2-9ab4-ead5ddee7696%40sessionmgr113&vid=1&hid=126&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d / September 2004 

Title: Bounding the risk of crew loss following orbital debris penetration of the international space station at assembly stages 1J and 1E.

http://www.popsci.com/category/popsci-authors/clay-dillow / 05.27.2010 

Title: Pentagon: A Space Junk Collision Could Set Off Catastrophic Chain Reaction, Disable Earth Communications
Every now and again someone raises a stern warning about the amount of space junk orbiting Earth. Those warnings are usually met with general indifference, as very few of us own satellites or travel regularly to low Earth orbit. But the DoD's assessment of the space junk problem finds that perhaps we should be paying attention: space junk has reached a critical tipping point that could result in a cataclysmic chain reaction that brings everyday life on Earth to a grinding halt.To give an idea of how quickly a chain reaction could get out hand consider this: in February of last year a defunct Russian satellite collided with a communications satellite, turning 2 orbiting craft into 1,500 pieces of junk. The Chinese missile test that obliterated a satellite in 2007 spawned 100 times more than that, scattering 150,000 pieces of debris


Chance That Space Debris Will Colide With The ISS Every 6 Months
Kennneth Chang Kenneth Chang is a science reporter for The New York Times, covering chemistry, geology, solid state physics, nanotechnology, Pluto, plague and other scientific miscellany. He should have received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois but instead left after seven years to attend the science writing program at University of California at Santa Cruz. He worked at The Los Angeles Times, the Greenwich Time in Connecticut, The Newark Star-Ledger and ABCNEWS.com prior to joining the Times in 2000.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/29/science/space/29junk.html / 6/28/11 

Title: Debris Gives Space Station Crew Members a 29,000-M.P.H. Close Call
NASA estimates that for each six-month period, there is a 1-in-100 chance that some or all of the space station crew might need to evacuate, and most of that risk comes from the possibility of impact from debris or natural micrometeroids. Over 10 years, the current planned lifetime of the station, the cumulative risk is nearly one in five.

Neg- Solvency

Space balloons and sponges pose a threat to our own satellites
DANIEL MICHAELS journalist, Wall Street Journal

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123672891900989069.html / MARCH 11, 2009 

Title: A Cosmic Question: How to Get Rid Of All That Orbiting Space Junk?
"Debris removal is moving to the front of the agenda," says William Ailor, director of the Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies at the Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles. One unlikely proposal he frequently hears is using "catchers' mitts and such" -- launching a big ball of foam or clay that could sponge up debris. One hitch is that the blob would have to be huge to make a difference, and so would itself become a threat to live satellites.


Space Junk cannot be removed
Zachary Kussin world news reporter

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/five-things/space-junk/10182/ / July 1, 2011 

Title: Space junk
The low Earth orbit is basically a trash dump that, for now, can’t be emptied. Without gravity, these objects remain in orbital motion, impossible to slow down and impossible to contain. Although the junk cannot be trapped and discarded, some of it can be tracked.However, there are many millions of smaller discards that cannot be tracked. These items can either be small objects, such as individual bolts from broken pieces, or fragments of larger objects that broke off in earlier collisions.


Space Debris will never be solved Cut By Lexi Brey
spacenews.com / 2009 Page 9-25

Title: Orbital Debris Cleanup Takes Center Stage