Space Debris: The Effects of the Kessler Syndrome

    Problem:

Space debris or space junk is any human-made object in orbit around the Earth that no longer serves a useful function. Such debris includes nonfunctional spacecraft and satellites, abandoned launch vehicle stages, rockets, and fragmentation debris.

What happens when there is too much space debris?

The Kessler Syndrome is a theory proposed by NASA scientist Donald J. Kessler in 1978, used to describe a self-sustaining cascading collision of space debris in lower earth orbit. It’s the idea that two colliding objects in space will create debris that then collides with other objects, creating even more shrapnel and litter until the entirety of the lower earth orbit is covered in debris. At that point, any entering satellite would face very high risks of collision with such space debris. This event would be detrimental to our society and put a stop to all daily activities that make our modern lives possible. Satellites that provide us with communication, internet, navigation, weather forecasting, research and more would be destroyed and add to the never ending amount of space debris.

Solution: 

This idea is to showcase the issue of Space Debris, to raise awareness and inspire discussion. With the aim of getting more people to care about the issue to inspire future work towards solving this problem. Combining elements of art installation and museum exhibit, creating an experience around space debris focusing on what the impact of the Kessler Syndrome might look like. A number of installation artifacts in various mediums will inform viewers, inspire discussion and evoke a reaction to this human-made issue.​