Former senior US space officer: Estimates of space debris are inaccurate

A former senior officer of the US Space Command claimed that all estimates of space debris in Earth’s orbit were wrong, and therefore solving this problem will not be an easy task.

According to Tekna technology and technology news service, recently the problem of space debris has been prominently noticed by many space agencies and private companies in this field are also trying to solve this problem with different methods. But it is still not clear whether the correct solution to remove these wastes from the earth’s orbit can be brought to a practical stage or not. Currently, several concepts for dealing with waste of concern have been proposed by space agencies and private companies. However, the estimation of the effectiveness of these methods has not yet been announced.

In order to know the amount of space debris, it is necessary to use better and smarter methods. David Finkelman, the former senior officer of the US Space Command, said: “Currently, there is uncertainty about the number and existing models.” Therefore, more observations not only cannot improve the estimates, but also it is not possible to separate parts and divide them.

Finkelman says not knowing the exact amount and size of these debris also applies to the likelihood of them hitting. Encounters may occur all at once. So far, there has been no example of this. In fact, it can be said that none of the estimated collisions happened. Therefore, the stated probabilities are also presented from the set of samples without collision.

Finkelman believes that experts in the field and space debris experts have made predictions about future consequences that would not normally be possible in known physics. According to him, these experts do not want or do not intend to publish this uncertainty publicly.