Let’s Chat: Unraveling the Mysteries of Space Junk Tonight at 6 PM!

The Royal Astronomical Society is delighted to inform that our complimentary Public Talks for the 2024-2025 season will occur at Burlington House at 1pm and 6pm. Kindly verify the timetable as some talks may be exclusively online due to speaker availability. 

Each session features a 45-minute presentation & a 15-minute Q&A session 

Session at 1-2pm: Register for the 1pm hybrid talk

Session at 6-7pm: Register for the 6pm hybrid talk 

We Must Discuss … About Space Junk

Outer space is a remarkably precious asset – among a multitude of uses are: telecommunications; broadcasting; navigation and positioning; meteorological and climate supervision; exploration of natural resources; experiments and material production in microgravity; astronomical studies; and monitoring disasters. However, our utilization of space is progressively constrained and jeopardized by space debris. This debris varies in scale from particles and paint flecks as tiny as sand grains (which can inflict considerable harm on spacecraft due to their high-speed collisions), to inactive satellites and rocket boosters. The situation is escalating – for instance, there has been a significant rise in the number of evasive maneuvers that the space station has needed to undertake to avoid sizable fragments of space debris. The worry is an unchecked phenomenon known as the Kessler syndrome, wherein the remnants from a single collision instigate numerous others, leading to a scenario where space becomes inoperable. In his presentation, Professor Lockwood will explore the different types of orbits and examine what strategies can be implemented for each to mitigate the issue.

About our presenter:

Mike Lockwood is a professor specializing in space environment physics at the University of Reading. He has researched how the Sun affects the near-Earth space environment and how these interactions have evolved over the centuries. Previously, he served as the chairman of the governing council overseeing the EISCAT radars in northern Scandinavia, which, among various applications, can track space debris. Notably, these radars directly recorded the substantial increase in debris resulting from a ‘star wars’ missile test conducted on an inactive weather satellite.