The Prince George Citizen — Wednesday, August 9,1989 — 21 Junk poses threat for space station WASHINGTON (Reuter) — In planning the American space station, scientists and engineers must confront a less lofty problem: the thousands of pieces of junk orbiting Earth. Space trash — ranging in size from discarded rocket bodies to specks of dust — could pose difficulties for the space station Freedom, the foundation of President George Bush’s plans for 21st-century space exploration. The space station, slated to be in operation by the year 2000, would be a prime target for orbiting junk, says Don Kessler, a NASA expert on space debris. “It definitely is a major design consideration for the space station, because it’s (the station) going to be up there for 30 years, because of its large size, because it’s got a crew on board you want to maintain safe operations with,” Kessler said in a telephone interview from Houston. Orbiting debris could crack windows, scratch protective coatings from exterior surfaces of the station or even cause fuel tanks to explode, Kessler said. Such damage is possible because the force of even the tiniest objects is magnified in the low-Earth orbit where most debris is located. An orbiting paint chip would have the same kinetic energy as a bullet about 50 times its size travelling at 1,000 metres per second. NASA plans to change the way U.S. space orbiters are designed so they can withstand such collisions, said Kessler, noting that Freedom’s fuel tanks and “habitation modules” — areas where crew will live and work — will be shielded. Scientists have drawn up plans for a kind of cosmic garbage truck and for robotic garbage cans to collect space debris. But Kessler said these are “fun things to think about” rather than ideas seriously considered by NASA at this point. However, Kumar Ramohalli, an aerospace engineer at Pennsylvania State University who designed the space garbage truck — he calls it the Autonomous Space Processor for Orbital Debris — says the time to investigate anti-debris devices is now. Ramohalli’s device would be equipped with a solar panel and computers that would enable it to track down disabled satellites and other debris. Once it locates a chunk of debris, the device would decide whether the junk could be salvaged or should be towed back to the space station, he said. Acknowledging the far-out sound of this concept, Ramohalli said, “Of all the schemes I’ve heard, this seems to be the least crazy.” Solar collectors, photoelectric panels and lightweight construction beams could be recycled in space, Ramohalli said. “The junk itself is a resource,” he said in a telephone interview. “Space junk does not represent rusting autos with worms crawling around them. Orbital debris is very valuable.” NASA’s space surveillance network at Cheyenne Mountain, Wyo., keeps track of some 5,000 pieces of space junk bigger than a grapefruit. Tens of thousands of smaller particles cannot be tracked from Earth, Kessler said. “We’ve put over 19,000 things in space since Sputnik first went up (in 1957),” said Maj. Alex Mondra-gon, a spokesman for the U.S. Space Command, which tracks space debris. “Of that, 6,833 are still orbiting, and of that 4,931 are junk.” This tally does not count tens of thousands of smaller particles which can only be monitored by telescopes and by checking the kinds of abrasion on orbiters that return to Earth, said Mondragon. Space Command also charts a course for space shuttles to avoid known pockets of debris, a process that is now routine but could be complicated as space fills up, Mondragon said. He said this was not cause for undue concern for those on Earth. “There’s been no record of anyone ever being hurt by space debris in the 30-plus years of things going up and coming back.” But huge pieces of space debris have dropped to Earth. In 1979 NASA’s 85-tonne Skylab scattered debris in the Indian Ocean and western Australia. And in 1978 a Soviet satellite with a nuclear reactor scattered radioactive debris over western Canada and there were worries that a similar Soviet satellite would do the same last year. It did not. This December a mission by the space shuttle Columbia is scheduled to retrieve a bus-sized U.S. satellite that was to have been recaptured in 1985. The drifting orbit-er will be brought back to Earth in the Columbia’s cargo b*ay. Orbital debris has already been recognized as a new field for legal liability, says lawyer Dennis Burnett. “It’s very much like a car crash,” Burnett said. “One of the questions is where did the debris come from? And who’s at fault here?” Burnett said he knew of no lawsuits stemming from space junk — yet. CIUDAD BOLIVAR, Venezuela (CP-Reuter) — This picturesque colonial town on the banks of the Orinoco River has steep cobblestone streets and a beautiful Spanish church. Ciudad Bolivar, the former capital of Venezuela, is also the centre for most of the trade in diamonds and gold panned out of the headwaters of the nearby Caroni and Paragua rivers. This is the land of Eldorado, the fabled “city of gold” that DIAMONDS, GOLD Jungle hides bonanza eluded Spanish and other explorers for centuries. These trackless jungles are one of the world’s last unexploited major repository of gold and diamonds, says the Venezuelan government. If true, the quantity of wealth still in the ground is staggering. An estimated five million carats of rough diamonds are exported or smuggled to Europe each year. These are alluvial diamonds, washed out of river grav- el mostly by pick-and-shovel prospectors. They are not the product of major mining operations. No one has yet found the original source of the diamonds, but geophysicists are sure it exists and that it is as rich as the diamond mines of South Africa. The diamonds of the Caroni River are also among the clearest and purest in the world — and, therefore, worth top dollars. AND BACKUP 12 MONTH WARRANTY INTRODUCING A NEW NATURAL GAS ADAPTATION PROGRAM FROM BC GAS. BC Gas is pleased to announce a new program that makes as much sense as Natural Gas itself. It’s designed specifically for everyday drivers like you, with a new tank lease program, and a comprehensive 12 month warranty to ensure your satisfaction. THE TANK LEASE PROGPlAM. Now, for as low as $7 per month, you can lease the Natural Gas fuel tank you used to have to buy. This eliminates the expense of 5year tank recertifica- *on most vehicles plus tank purchase or lease O.A.C. tions and the need to purchase a different tank when a switch in vehicles requires such a change. 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Dueck Minister of Health British Columbia Transplant Society Info: 875-4665 Every year, hundreds of people begin their lives anew because of the generosity of organ donors and their families. Registration is simple and anyone can register. • Drop by any Motor Licence Office, Autoplan agent, public health unit, Government Agent, or B.C. hospital. Pick up a “Gift for Life” pamphlet. It contains a postage-paid registration card you simply sign and return, as well as a donor consent card to sign and carry with you. • Or you can register with the B.C. Registry for Organ Donors when you renew your driver’s licence or obtain a B.C.I.D. card at a Motor Licence Office Your new licence or B.C.I.D. will carry the words Organ Donor beside your I.D. photo. You don’t have to wait until your licence expires. Register now at a Motor Licence Office and you will be given a replacement licence at no cost that identifies you as a registered organ donor. (However, the $25 fee still stands for a normal, five-year renewal.) “Because of organ donation, I received a gift for life. ” — Heart transplant recipient Tony Beeftink