4.1 Risks & Dangers of Space Exploration
Technology and technological advancements are wonderful, and useful in our day-to-day lives. Likewise, the technology created by space research has been embedded into our daily norm. Nothing can be taken for granted when preparing for both manned and unmanned space missions. Not only is their the risk of losing technology that takes years and billions of dollars in development, but human lives are at risk as well.
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Space Junk - refers to all the pieces of debris that have fallen off rockets, satellites, space shuttles and space stations. This debris can include anything from flakes of paint, bolts and entire "dead" satellites. These pieces hurtle through space at speeds reaching up to 20,000km/h. There have been over 4000 missions since 1957, each of which has left their own piece(s) of debris orbiting space. Most of this will burn up upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, but until it does, it poses a real threat to anyone travelling in space.
Not all space junk burns up upon re-entry. Some comes back to Earth and causes many environmental and geological issues. For example, a nuclear powered Soviet satellite crashed into the Great Slave Lake area of the NWT in January 1978 and showered radioactive debris over a 124,000Km2 area. The clean-up cost by Canadian and US military personnel took nearly 8 months and cost around $15 million CAD.
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