Let the film "Gravity" - an invention of Hollywood screenwriters, but the Kessler effect, which sent Sandra Bullock to spin in space, is in fact a problem that real non-educational cosmonauts face. The film shows what happens when orbital debris collides and generates a chain reaction - the Kessler effect - which destroys the spacecraft.
“We did see a bunch of small collisions on different flights,” says Dr. Franklin Chang Diaz, a veteran of seven space flights. “And part of our daily routine on the space shuttle was to inspect windows for damage from impact.”
But how is this even possible? Can the Kessler effect destroy satellites? Can it make it almost impossible to go into Earth orbit? Yes. And Dr. Chang Diaz believes that he has a way to help cope with this bad luck.
Space is not empty
Although you may think that space is mostly empty, the Earth is surrounded by space debris flying in orbit. Fragments of rockets, nuts and bolts, paint stains, non-working satellites and even astronaut tools revolve around our planet at high speed.
If a large enough piece gets into an astronaut, satellite or vehicle, the result will be disastrous. With all this, there is a high risk of a domino effect, when one collision generates even faster fragments, which, in turn, trigger a chain reaction. Disaster for people and the earthly economy.
Chain reaction
It's hard enough to believe, but true. The Chinese destroyed one of their satellites during the tests of anti-satellite missiles, as a result of which they generated a bunch of garbage in orbit. There were other clashes. Not long ago, an old Soviet satellite hit a small Ecuadorian satellite. A few years ago, another old Soviet satellite hit the Iridium satellite.
If the Kessler effect had worked, the garbage could have povibit low-orbit satellites, including weather probes and communication satellites, and, of course, spy satellites. As a result, trash can render satellites in geostationary orbit unsuitable. And then you have to forget about the flights to the Moon and Mars. Not a single rocket flies through the garbage field safely.
Destroying our orbital infrastructure will have huge implications for the economy. No GPS and GLONASS, crooked weather forecasts, reduced Internet and telephone communications, especially in remote areas, somewhere in Thailand. The villains of the bondans could only dream of such a scenario.
Orbital wipers
An obvious solution would be to attempt to remove from the orbit the most threatening debris, before they begin their terrible deed. A space tug could have contributed to this, capturing the debris and sending it to Earth, where they would burn in a dense atmosphere.
However, conventional chemical rockets, alas, are ineffective for this task. Each piece of garbage will trail on its leash and it needs its own engine, since conventional rockets consume extremely much fuel.
Dr. Chang Diaz is working on an alternative solution. His company, Ad Astra, has developed a “specific impulse magnet-plasma rocket engine” (VASIMR), which in one mission can de-orbit up to 19 eight-ton “Zenith” rockets, drifting in different orbits. The size of the Icarus, these pieces of garbage are the largest of those that are currently vigilantly watched.
VASIMR to the rescue
As Newton said, "every action has an equal reaction." Rocket engines operate by burning fuel and firing it from a nozzle at high speed. An equal and opposite reaction in this case is the acceleration of the spacecraft. Conventional rocket engines raise a lot of mass at relatively low speeds, so they need a lot of fuel.
VASIMR is different. It uses electricity to accelerate a small amount of rocket fuel to very high speeds and can support this process for very long. Since he gets his electricity from solar panels, he just needs some fuel. For a space tug - the very thing. That is why NASA plans to test the first version of the engine on the ISS in 2016. Hey, Zenit, do you want some acceleration?
The economy is simple. To send one kilogram into orbit, you need $ 30,000. To speed up the ISS using a chemical rocket, it will take about 7 tons of fuel, which will cost $ 210 million. VASIMR will do the same with three hundred kilograms of argon, which is not much cheaper.
Ready to fly
Rocketry Ad Astra - not science fiction. This is a practical solution. The company has already tested the 200-kilowatt version of the engine in a vacuum chamber in Houston and designed the engine that will go to the ISS. NASA approved the design, carefully analyzing the project.
“20 years ago, space belonged to governments,” says Dr. Chang Diaz. “But now it is becoming a place for doing business, for work.”
Already today, space is almost sold, which means that the Kessler effect cannot simply be taken away and out of sight if it can kill the lion’s share of the modern economy with one push. No matter how dramatic Gravity is, Houston must make decisions, not Hollywood.
The article is based on materials .
Comments
Post a Comment