Lucy is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and has managed to combine her interest in all things space with some parts of her portfolio career. For example, she is the author of the book ‘It’s ONLY Rocket Science – An Introduction in Plain English’, which explains the basics of rocket science, from the initial idea to the completion of the mission. She is also a freelance journalist and has written for the BBC, the Guardian and more specialist publications such as Astronomy Now Magazine. She has worked as an engineer on rockets for space tourism and gives talks on space, science and engineering. Space aside, she is also a director of a computer consultancy.
What made you interested in space debris research?
I first heard about Space Debris in 2005 while I was researching my book "It's ONLY Rocket Science - An Introduction in Plain English". I subscribed to Orbital Debris Quarterly News (http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/newsletter.html) and never unsubscribed. I was shocked at how we were polluting space, and the potential damage space debris could do
When I was at Singularity University (http://www.singularityu.org) this summer, we were tasked with the challenge of "Positively affecting the lives of a billion people within ten years". I realized I could make a contribution towards helping to solve the space debris problem - and have been working on it since.
What do you think are some of the better approaches to the space junk problem?
Due to the high cost of getting things into space, ground based lasers are going to make a very useful contribution. There are two main methods that could use lasers - photon pressure (changing the debris' orbit by pushing it with the pressure of light) and ablation and outgassing (melting the surface to produce a thrust). These will work best on high surface area to weight ratio objects, such as thermal blankets and lens caps.
However, there are many political hurdles to jump before these are used - if I have a laser that can remove debris, I potentially have a weapon that can remove another country's satellite. Also, can I legally remove a piece of debris that belongs to another country, without their express permission?
For larger items, I believe electrodynamic tethers are the most viable solution in the near term. These take advantage of the movement produced when a current passes through the Earth's magnetic field. However, there are still technical problems with these at the moment.
In the more distant future, I can see space tugs servicing, refueling and repairing satellites, and towing debris and dead satellites out of the way to a "scrapyard" in space for future recycling. It costs a lot to get things up there - why waste those resources by burning them up in the atmosphere as we de-orbit them?
What are some of the obstacles you've faced when explaining why space debris needs to be minimized?
Most people believe space is big, and, like the oceans, pollution cannot really be a big problem. I agree, space is big, but most of our satellites are in particular orbits - and these are becoming ever more crowded. For example, polar satellites pass over the North and South poles - these areas are getting particularly congested.
Also, it is difficult to imagine the speeds that space debris travels at. And the damage small pieces of debris can cause. However, something the size of a cherry travelling at 17,500mph can have the same impact as setting off a hand grenade next to a satellite.
The major problems though are political and financial. There is a bit of "It's not my responsibility to clear up debris" and also there are not yet "rules of the road" for space - for example, what are the implications of moving someone else's dead satellite. There are also no financial rewards for doing so. However, there will come a point soon when the major cost of insuring a satellite is not in the launch, but in the ongoing safety of it. Then there may be financial advantages to clearing space.
The UN's mitigation guidelines go a considerable way to stop more debris being produced, but we need to do more to alleviate the problem. Space Situational Awareness and collision avoidance are going to have to get a lot better in the near term, so we can dodge the debris before we actually start removing the problem.
In 5-10 years, if we don't do something about the debris, how could it affect everyday lives?
Imagine if there was a catastrophic event that took out the whole of the GPS constellations. Currently there is a low probability of this happening, but it is high risk if it does - Yes, we'd be without the satnav in our cars, not such a big deal. However, Air Traffic Control use GPS, so planes would be immediately grounded until backup systems were instigated. Shipping would not know where it was. Train signalling gets its timing from the GPS satellites, so trains would be cancelled. Containers are tagged with GPS locations, so the movement of goods would be severely restricted. Before long, there would be no food on the shelves ... The list goes on.
A higher likelihood is that there is a catastrophic event in Low Earth Orbit. This would mean we do not have weather forecasts, emergency response systems, financial transactions, search and rescue, tsunami warnings, e-voting and pollution monitoring, to name but a few.
Also, if there is too much debris, such as thermal blankets, in Geostationary orbits it can start to interfere with RF signals, and television broadcasts and other communications will become affected.
Do you think there needs to be more partnerships between the commercial sector and military sector regarding satellites?
There needs to be more partnerships between everyone across the globe who has an interest in safe corridors to space. This includes, but is not limited to, satellite operators, insurers, military, manufacturers, and users of the data. This is why I am in the process of starting an International Space Debris Trade Association that will provide a coherent voice and collaboration opportunities so we can all work together to solve the problem. Anyone interested can contact me at TradeAssociation@spacedebrisresearch.com.
