space rags
WHAT will a ragpicker in space look like? Garbage collection will be the most fascinating, and accelerating, area of space research over the next decade.
A ragpicker on Earth, particularly in Mumbai, is a woman whose saree is pulled up above her knees. She has a hooked rod in her right hand, and from her left shoulder is suspended a huge bag which holds recyclable garbage. Sometimes she also has a mobile phone.
Now imagine this ragpicker orbiting around Earth. She will be in a space suit, will have a large bag, her headphone communication system will link her with the orbiting garbage truck, and she will be attached to the truck by a long rope. She will use something like a tennis racquet with a loose net to fish for floating bits of junk.
It doesn’t work, of course. Our ragpickers cannot be outsourced for space tasks. Space garbage cleaning is far more complex. (There’s a lot of Internet material on the subject.) The problem might excite our sci-tech institutes. Indian ingenuity, like that of Mumbai’s dabbawallas, could devise an internationally acclaimed 6 Sigma solution for space garbage clearance.
Space garbage (or junk or debris) is causing much concern. The anxious ones are not merely space agencies which send satellites and astronauts into space. There are also the armed forces, spy agencies, media channels, science laboratories, weather bureaus, police, airlines, space tour operators, insurance companies, and many others.
Thousands of nuts, bolts, gloves and other debris from space missions form an orbiting garbage dump around Earth. Some of the bits and pieces scream along at 28,000 kmph. When these objects fall back into Earth's atmosphere, they behave like meteors and light up the sky. A 1999 study estimated there are some four million pounds of space junk in low-Earth orbit, each big enough to damage a satellite or space-based telescope. Some of the objects could threaten the lives of astronauts in a space shuttle.
That makes planning space missions a very complex task. Every bit of junk has to be taken into account so that the spacecraft can keep out of its path. This is more complex than planning a walk in Mumbai by first listing all pavement vendors, potholes, spitters, piddlers, aggressive zoomers, loitering loafers, beggars, cyclists, parked mobikes, doddering old individuals, children, flying cricket balls and footballs, stinking piles of garbage, overflowing public urinals, etc.
Sounds impossible? Then imagine the tension of the fellows who keep track of orbiting space junk. I once saw an illustration which showed Earth and the floating junk around it. Earth was dotted like a beehive. It’s a wonder that we still manage to send satellites and shuttles into space with so few accidents.
So you have a delightful irony. As space tourism becomes commonplace, the tourists will cease to be celebrities. Instead, garbage will make big news, especially as the frequency of space accidents rises. And then serious attention may be given to garbage clearance on Earth too. It won’t be the low-class enterprise of only ragpickers and municipal sweepers.Labels: making money in space, rags, space debris
