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<i>From ESA Portal</i><br /><font size="5">Space debris mitigation: the case for a code of conduct</font><br /><br />15 April 2005<br />There is a lot of junk orbiting the Earth and the problem will worsen unless there are changes in how spacecraft operators operate. But it is not all doom and gloom. The first steps toward a comprehensive solution are already well underway including a European code of conduct for space debris mitigation.<br /> <br />According to Dr Ruediger Jehn, a space debris specialist working at ESA's Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt, there are several relatively simple measures that will help reduce the amount of debris in space. Some are already being implemented by spacecraft operators at little or no cost. <br /> <br />"These steps," he explains, "are based on common sense and include measures that should be acceptable to any spacecraft operator." <br />The basic concept is simple: do not make the existing problem worse; reduce or prevent the creation of any new debris; and, in particular, strive to protect the commercially valuable low Earth and geostationary orbits. <br /><br />The amount of debris created during normal operations can be reduced by not discarding, ejecting or detaching anything that does not have to be discarded, ejected or detached. This includes payload covers, Yo-Yo despinners and instrument covers such as those used to protect the highly sensitive optical windows of sensors during launch. Lastly, minimise break-ups, a major source of small but deadly debris. <br /> <br /><b>Explosions in space</b><br /> <br />It may be surprising to anyone outside the space community to learn that spacecraft (occasionally) and launch vehicles (frequently) do in fact break up in orbit. <br /><br />Launch vehicle lower stages generally fall back into the atmosphere and completely burn up, providing a tidy, if fiery, solution but the typical fate of rocket upper stages, which are usually cast off after launch, is to blow up. <br /><br />Why does t <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>