downtoearth-subscribe

Traffic jam up there

Traffic jam up there arthur C Clarke, the doyen of science prophets, has warned that space age could come to an abrupt end because of the proliferation of orbiting junk. Clarke says the launch of hundreds of satellites during the next five years would increase the amount of orbiting debris so much that future space exploration may become impossible.

"You have to wonder whether the space age might have to end 50 years after it began. I'm afraid that future astronauts will have to fly through orbiting minefields,' says Clarke.

A lot of experts also believe that ambitious plans to put more than 1,000 satellites in low Earth orbit (leo) between now and the year 2001 will significantly increase the risk of collisions with thousands of large human-made objects already circling the globe. The greatest fear is that explosive collisions between large objects travelling at 49,600 kmph will cause a

Related Content