According to a report from the Inspector General’s office, NASA needs to do more to understand the risks posed by spacecraft with space debris and to find new ways to reduce the threat.
Why it matters: Some view space debris as an environmental crisis in an orbit. Millions of pieces of space debris speed more than 17,000 km / h around the earth, damaging spacecraft and sometimes humans.
Send the news: The new OIG report suggests that while NASA has done a good job of uprooting its own spacecraft and rocket bodies, many other countries have not yet been as proactive, launching spacecraft and rockets that stay in orbit longer than the recommended 25 years.
- Now experts warn that the space agency must mitigate the debris already in space and prevent future debris from being created to keep spacecraft safe in the future.
- “Despite presidential and congressional prescriptions directed at NASA over the past decade to develop active garbage disposal technologies, the agency has made little or no progress with such efforts,” the OIG wrote.
- The OIG also recommends that NASA develop a better way to detect the nature of space debris in orbit to protect its spacecraft more effectively.
The catch: Nations and private enterprises are finding ways to clean up space efficiently, but these technologies are still in early development.