Understanding Space Junk Through Wall-E.

 Global warming was a myth until last century however things have changed drastically in this century.  Currently Global warming and climate change has become the most alarming situation for Earth. No matter how much science or calculations we put into thinking what the real reasons are for this is, I believe the answer always comes to human greed. Wall- E is a cute animated movie which on the border line shows romance between two robots but on the depth it discusses the issue of human involvement in destroying not only Earth but the space as well. If you think about it, global corporations destroy the earth's sustainability for personal gain, and said corporations pull out a pointless project to promise the people a better future, the future as seen in Wall E is being herding humans like sheep, maintaining complete control over them, and blinding them to the potential lives they could all lead. Along with WALL-E, who has always lived outside of this system, and a slew of other robots that don't know how to act appropriately, cooperate, or listen, EVE, is  a robot made in this system and required to follow commands, revolts against the long-gone authority assigned order for a better future.

Figure 2 Wall-E movie poster image by

Blast Harnandas via Pinterest                                                     Figure 1 Newspaper from Wall-E image by Blast Via Pinterest

What is Space Junk?

As mentioned above that humans are also destroying space, so how is it? Well we are aware that human capabilities have enabled them to beak the barriers and have reached out to the space and the moon and while doing so they have left a lot of debris roaming in the space as space junk. Space junk also known as space debris is manmade stuff in orbiting around the Earth that is no longer useful. This material can range in size from a spent rocket stage to a minuscule paint chip. Much of the debris is in low Earth orbit, within 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) of the Earth's surface; however, some debris may be found 35,786 kilometers (22,236 miles) above the Equator in geostationary orbit (Gregersen, 2021). While there are about 2,000 active satellites orbiting Earth at the moment, there are also 3,000 dead ones littering space (O'Callaghan, 2018).

 

Figure 3 Satellites orbiting the Earth

 

How does space junk get into space?

All space junk is the product of humans releasing spacecraft or satellites into orbit, where it will remain until it re-enters the atmosphere.

In lower orbits of a few hundred kilometers, some objects can return swiftly. After a few years, they re-enter the atmosphere and, for the most part, burn up, preventing them from reaching the ground. However, trash or satellites left at higher altitudes of 36,000 kilometers, where communications and weather satellites are frequently positioned in geostationary orbits, can circle the Earth for hundreds or even thousands of years. As seen in the movie that even after700 years of human leaving the Earth the satellites were still orbiting the earth.

                        Figure 4 space ship launching from Earth               Figure 5 Satellite launching in space  via Pinterest                         

 

 

 

Why are we concerned about Space Junk?

Junk in any part of the atmosphere is not a good thing, let’s look at the Earth: we have already done a lot of damage to this beautiful planet. There are so many countries struggling with plastic waste, smog and tons of trash in general, and all this damage was not enough that Humans have also started trashing the space as well. As mentioned around 5000 satellites either dead or working are orbiting the earth, all this is not part of the nature as nature has always been clean it is us Humans who has the capabilities of destroying things. Well I am not saying that Humans are evil after all these satellites are made to serve humankind with a better life. Today there are satellites for observing natural resources of earth, the climate, telecommunication, military operations and much more (Logsdon, 2021). While we are concerned that human involvement with nature might do great damage humans are also worried that overcrowding of these satellite might be a problem for future launches. When flying at high speeds, even little paint specks can cause damage to a spacecraft. A number of space shuttle windows had to be replaced due to damage caused by a substance that was later identified as paint particles. In reality, millimeter-sized orbital debris poses the greatest threat to most robotic spacecraft in low Earth orbit, posing a mission-ending threat (Garcia, 2021). In simpler words if there are too many satellites orbiting the earth there would not be enough space left for future space crafts or satellites launches therefore, they would crash into each other creating a greater mess.  This has indeed happened on February 19^th 2009 when a defunct Russian spacecraft collided with and destroyed a live Iridium commercial spacecraft from the United States. More than 2,300 pieces of massive, trackable debris and many smaller pieces of debris were added to the inventory of space trash as a result of the collision (Garcia, 2021). Space junk as exceeded till moon, there is around 400,000 pound of manmade debris on moon (Garber, 2021). The Movie Wall-E also shows moon trash in a scene which many of us might not have registered but just imagine how sad it is to pollute a place that does not belong to us.

 

Moon Debris Image via NASA 

Can we press ctrl Z?

I don’t think we can erase all the junk from space but NASA and the Department of Defense collaborate and share duties for characterizing the satellite environment (including orbital debris). In low-Earth orbit, the Department of Defense's Space Surveillance Network watches discrete objects as tiny as 2 inches (5 centimeters) in diameter, and around 1 yard (1 meter) in geosynchronous orbit (Garcia, 2021). However we can only track that junk and cannot get it out of space but what is possible is that there should be a check and balance on how many satellites a country can launch. Moreover I think a robot like Wall-E might help clean up the Moon, I mean Wall-E  was quite small in size but Wall-A who was seen in the space craft might be more suitable for the job. However, to earn a fast cash, large corporations devastate the land, the seas, our wildlife, and plants, let’s hope that we don’t do the same to the moon, space or the Mars that humans plan on colonizing.

Wall-E cleaning trash on Earth image by Robert Vaux Via CBR.com

Cleaning Robot Advertisement image by Robert Vaux via CBR.com

It's absurd that the movie Wall-E is seen as a sweet little children's program despite the fact that it deals with such big and controversial subjects. The movie is about revolution, not beautiful robots saving humanity and falling in love. To be honest, it's remarkable that they were able to convey such a strong message through symbolism in a children's film. It’s a recommended movie for children and for Adults.

 

 By: Sania Karim

 

Bibliography

Garber, M. (2021). The Trash We've Left on the Moon.

Garcia, M. (2021, 05). Space Debris and Human Spacecraft.

Gregersen, E. (2021). space debris.

Logsdon, J. M. (2021). Space exploration .

O'Callaghan, J. (2018). What is space junk and why is it a problem?