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Kurzgesagt (In a Nutshell), End of Space – Creating a Prison for Humanity

End of Space – Creating a Prison for Humanity

Space travel is the most exciting and challenging adventure humanity has ever undertaken.

But in an irony of history, we may stop ourselves from going into space the more we do it. With every rocket launched and with every satellite deployed, we're creating a trap for ourselves that gets deadlier and more dangerous every year. If it's ever activated,

it could end the Space Age

and trap us on our planet for decades, or even centuries.

Getting something into space is incredibly hard. To do so, you need to move very, very fast. At first, straight up to leave the atmosphere,

then sideways to begin a sort of circling around the Earth, still, very, very fast.

If you do that successfully you can enter a Low Earth orbit. And once in orbit,

it's very hard to get out of orbit. Unless you have energy to spare, you're sort of locked in here, falling around the Earth forever. That's great for things we want to stay up, like space stations and satellites. And so we moved the majority of humanity's space infrastructure to this place, just a few hundred kilometers above the surface. Just high enough

so that the atmosphere is so thin, that orbiting things can stay up for centuries before air resistance can slow them enough to bring them back to Earth. But this is also the source of our deadly trap. Rockets are really metal cylinders that keep big parts of fuel in place. Whenever a portion of the fuel has been spent, the empty tanks are dropped to make the rocket lighter. Some parts crash down to earth or burn up in the atmosphere. But most of the useless rocket parts stay up and begin to orbit the planet. After decades of space travel low Earth orbit

is a junkyard of spent boosters,

broken satellites and millions of pieces of shrapnel from missile tests and explosions. Right now we know of around 2,600 defunct satellites, 10,000 objects bigger than a monitor, 20,000 as large as an apple, 500,000 pieces the size of a marble and at least 100 million parts so small they can't be tracked. This debris is moving at speeds of up to 30,000 km/h, circling Earth on criss- crossing orbits multiple times a day.

Orbital speeds are so fast that being hit by debris the size of a pea is like being shot by a plasma gun. On impact the debris

vaporises, releasing enough energy to punch holes straight through solid metal. So, we've covered the space around our planet with millions of deadly pieces of destruction,

and we also put a trillion dollar global infrastructure network right in the danger zone.

It performs critical duties essential to the modern world: global communication,

GPS and navigation, collecting weather data,

looking out for asteroids and all manner of scientific discoveries: things we would miss very much if they suddenly went away. If just one pea-sized bullet hits one of our 1,100 working satellites, it will be destroyed instantly. Three or four satellites are already being destroyed this way every year. As the number of satellites and the amount of junk in orbit is expected to grow tenfold in the next decade,

we're approaching a tipping point. But the worst thing in space is not tiny pieces of junk. The worst thing would be an unstoppable chain reaction that turns a lot of non junk things into junk. For example: if two satellites hit each other in just the right way. If satellites collide

they don't stop and fall out of the sky. It's more of a splash than a crash. Orbital speeds are so fast solid pieces spray right through each other, transforming the two satellites into clouds of thousands of little things still fast enough to destroy more satellites. This could trigger the slowest and most destructive sort of domino effect: a collision cascade.

Like a shotgun spray,

each collision creates more bullets. What was once a single tiny target very unlikely to hit anything becomes a wall of destruction hungry to make more. As more and more satellites are destroyed the destruction accelerates exponentially, eventually destroying everything parked in orbit. But space is very empty, so the first few collisions may take a long time. By the time we realize what's happening, it's too late. One year one satellite is destroyed and that's no big deal. The next year, five.

The year after, 50.

Until there's nothing left.

The situation in orbit is rapidly worsening and we may already be past the point of no return. Within 10 years space around Earth may no longer be viable for long term satellites or rockets. The worst case scenario is horrifying. A debris field made of hundreds of millions of pieces, many too small to track, moving at 30,000 km/h.

It would effectively create a deadly barrier around Earth, possibly too dangerous to cross. Dreams of moon bases, Mars colonies or space travel at all may be set back centuries. And the loss of our space infrastructure would send some of the technology we rely on daily back to the 1970s. But it might not be too late to clean up our mess. While the space industry has become better at avoiding space junk, it's still growing fast and occasional weapon tests don't help. So there have been a couple of wild but also serious suggestions. About how to quickly remove as much deadly space junk as possible without creating more in the process. Lots of ideas are being thrown around, and some of the most seriously considered involve capture and return missions, which are being tested now. One method involves meeting a piece of junk in orbit with a small satellite and loaded with a net.

Once caught,

a small rocket could be used to bring it down towards Earth. Targets too large for a net might be instead caught with a harpoon on a tether. Instead of firing a rocket the cleaner would deploy a large sail to produce atmospheric drag and accelerate orbital decay.

And there are lots of other wild sci-fi sounding proposals too. Some might use giant electromagnets. These magnetic tugs

work by pushing on the magnetic components inside satellites that they use to stabilize and orientate themselves in Earth's magnetic field. These may be safer and more reliable than nets and harpoons because they never have to make contact with the junk they're handling, so there's no risk of accidentally breaking up their target into more junk. As for the tiniest bits of junk,

lasers might be the key to vaporising them entirely. Satellites with lasers wouldn't need to visit their targets. They can shoot them from far away. Large objects can't exactly be shot down, but lasers can be used to ablate them, or burn tiny amounts of material off the side to push the junk to a safer orbit. Whatever technology we use at the end, we better start doing something soon,

before 100 million bullets become a trillion and the trap is set. If we don't act,

our adventure in space might end before it's even begun. If our days of dreaming about space exploration might be numbered anyway we better put them to good use. One of the things we most like to spend our time on is learning more about our universe. And to do that

you can just keep watching.

Kurzgesagt and Brilliant are collaborating on a six-part video series about our favorite science and space topics. Kurzgesagt has worked with Brilliant for a bit. And we love how they teach you science and maths in a practical way. By guiding you through problems step by step. So you can actually understand the concepts behind them. And maybe one day

use your knowledge on problems like space junk. Or at least your science projects to start with.

If you'd like even more edutainment.

Go to brilliant.org/nutshell

and sign up for free.

The first 688 people to use the link get their annual premium membership at a 20% discount! And also support our collaboration with Brilliant!

Learn languages from TV shows, movies, news, articles and more! Try LingQ for FREE

End of Space – Creating a Prison for Humanity Das Ende des Weltraums - ein Gefängnis für die Menschheit El fin del espacio: crear una prisión para la humanidad Fin de l'espace - Créer une prison pour l'humanité 宇宙の終焉 - 人類に牢獄を作る Koniec kosmosu - tworzenie więzienia dla ludzkości Fim do Espaço - Criar uma prisão para a humanidade Конец космоса - создание тюрьмы для человечества Uzayın Sonu - İnsanlık İçin Bir Hapishane Yaratmak Кінець космосу - створення в'язниці для людства 太空的尽头——为人类建造一座监狱 太空的盡頭-為人類建造一座監獄

Space travel is the most exciting and challenging adventure humanity has ever undertaken. ||||||||||||unternommen ||||||||||||行った Космические путешествия - самое захватывающее и сложное приключение, которое когда-либо предпринимало человечество.

But in an irony of history, |||Ironie|| |||歴史の皮肉|| Но по иронии судьбы we may stop ourselves from going into space the more we do it. podemos dejar de ir al espacio cuanto más lo hagamos. With every rocket launched and with every satellite deployed, |||Satellit|eingesetzt ||||展開された we're creating a trap for ourselves that gets deadlier and more dangerous every year. ||||||||tödlicher||||| ||||||||より致命的||||| nos estamos creando una trampa que cada año es más mortal y peligrosa. If it's ever activated, Si alguna vez se activa,

it could end the Space Age

and trap us on our planet for decades, or even centuries.

Getting something into space is incredibly hard. Доставить что-то в космос невероятно сложно. To do so, you need to move very, very fast. Para ello, hay que moverse muy, muy rápido. At first, straight up to leave the atmosphere, Al principio, directamente hacia arriba para salir de la atmósfera,

then sideways to begin a sort of circling around the Earth, |seitwärts||||||Kreisbewegung||| |横向き||||||回ること||| luego hacia los lados para iniciar una especie de círculo alrededor de la Tierra, それから地球の周りをぐるぐる回るように横に移動し、 still, very, very fast. todavía, muy, muy rápido. まだまだ、とても、とても速く。

If you do that successfully you can enter a Low Earth orbit. Si lo hace con éxito, podrá entrar en una órbita terrestre baja. それが成功すれば、低地球軌道に入ることができます。 And once in orbit, Y una vez en órbita,

it's very hard to get out of orbit. es muy difícil salir de órbita. Unless you have energy to spare, |||||übrig |||||余分な A menos que te sobre energía, you're sort of locked in here, falling around the Earth forever. |||eingeschlossen||||||| estás como encerrado aquí, cayendo alrededor de la Tierra para siempre. あなたはここに閉じ込められているようなもので、永遠に地球の周りを落ち続けています。 That's great for things we want to stay up, Eso está muy bien para las cosas que queremos mantener, それは、私たちが空中に留めておきたいものには素晴らしいことです、 like space stations and satellites. como estaciones espaciales y satélites. 例えば宇宙ステーションや衛星のように。 And so we moved the majority of humanity's space infrastructure to this place, Y así trasladamos la mayor parte de la infraestructura espacial de la humanidad a este lugar, just a few hundred kilometers above the surface. a sólo unos cientos de kilómetros por encima de la superficie. Just high enough Lo suficientemente alto

so that the atmosphere is so thin, para que la atmósfera sea tan delgada, that orbiting things can stay up for centuries que las cosas en órbita pueden permanecer durante siglos dat in een baan rond de dingen eeuwenlang kan blijven hangen before air resistance can slow them enough to bring them back to Earth. antes de que la resistencia del aire pueda frenarlos lo suficiente como para traerlos de vuelta a la Tierra. But this is also the source of our deadly trap. Pero éste es también el origen de nuestra trampa mortal. Rockets are really metal cylinders that keep big parts of fuel in place. ||||Zylinder|||||||| ||||シリンダー|||||||| Los cohetes son en realidad cilindros metálicos que mantienen grandes partes de combustible en su lugar. Whenever a portion of the fuel has been spent, Siempre que se haya gastado una parte del combustible, the empty tanks are dropped to make the rocket lighter. ||Tanks|||||||leichter ||タンク||||||| los tanques vacíos se dejan caer para hacer el cohete más ligero. Some parts crash down to earth ||stürzen||| or burn up in the atmosphere. o se queman en la atmósfera. But most of the useless rocket parts stay up Pero la mayoría de las partes inútiles de los cohetes permanecen arriba and begin to orbit the planet. After decades of space travel low Earth orbit

is a junkyard of spent boosters, ||Schrottplatz|||Raketentriebwerke ||廃品置き場||| es un depósito de chatarra de impulsores gastados, is een autokerkhof van gebruikte boosters,

broken satellites and millions of pieces of shrapnel |||||||Schrapnell |||||||破片 gebroken satellieten en miljoenen stukjes granaatscherven from missile tests and explosions. Right now we know of around 2,600 defunct satellites, ||||||inaktiven| ||||||廃止された| Op dit moment kennen we ongeveer 2.600 ter ziele gegane satellieten, 10,000 objects bigger than a monitor, ||||Monitor 20,000 as large as an apple, ||||Apfel 20.000 del tamaño de una manzana, 500,000 pieces the size of a marble and at least 100 million parts so small they can't be tracked. en minstens 100 miljoen onderdelen zo klein dat ze niet kunnen worden gevolgd. This debris is moving at speeds of up to 30,000 km/h, |debris||||||||| Estos restos se mueven a velocidades de hasta 30.000 km/h, circling Earth on criss- crossing orbits multiple times a day. |||kreuzenden|Kreuzung|Bahnen|||| ||||交差|軌道|||| girando alrededor de la Tierra en órbitas que se cruzan varias veces al día. meerdere keren per dag in een baan om de aarde cirkelen.

Orbital speeds are so fast that being hit by debris Las velocidades orbitales son tan rápidas que ser golpeado por escombros 轨道速度如此之快,以至于被碎片击中 the size of a pea is like being shot by a plasma gun. die||||Erbse|||||||| ||||エンドウ|||||||| del tamaño de un guisante es como ser disparado por una pistola de plasma. On impact the debris En el impacto, los escombros

vaporises, releasing enough energy to punch holes straight through solid metal. verdampft|||||durchschlagen||||| 蒸発|||||||||| se vaporiza, liberando suficiente energía para agujerear el metal sólido. So, we've covered the space around our planet with millions of deadly pieces of destruction,

and we also put a trillion dollar global infrastructure network y también ponemos una red de infraestructura global de un billón de dólares right in the danger zone.

It performs critical duties essential to the modern world: |erfüllt||||||| Desempeña funciones críticas esenciales para el mundo moderno: 它履行着现代世界必不可少的重要职责: global communication,

GPS and navigation, GPS||Navigation collecting weather data,

looking out for asteroids cuidado con los asteroides and all manner of scientific discoveries: y todo tipo de descubrimientos científicos: things we would miss very much if they suddenly went away. cosas que echaríamos mucho de menos si desaparecieran de repente. もし突然なくなってしまったら、私たちがとても寂しく思うもの。 If just one pea-sized bullet hits one of our Si una sola bala del tamaño de un guisante alcanza a uno de nuestros もし単にエンドウ豆サイズの弾が私たちの1,100個の働いている衛星の1つに当たったら、それは即座に破壊されてしまいます。 1,100 working satellites, it will be destroyed instantly. 1,100の作動中の衛星のどれかにエンドウ豆サイズの弾丸が当たると、それは瞬時に破壊されます。 Three or four satellites are already being destroyed this way every year. As the number of satellites and the amount of junk in orbit is expected to grow tenfold in the next decade, |||||||||Weltraummüll|||||||||||

we're approaching a tipping point. |nähern uns||Wendepunkt| nos acercamos a un punto de inflexión. But the worst thing in space is not tiny pieces of junk. The worst thing would be an unstoppable chain reaction ||||||unaufhaltsame|| ||||||止められない|| that turns a lot of non junk things into junk. For example: que convierte muchas cosas que no son basura en basura. Por ejemplo: if two satellites hit each other in just the right way. If satellites collide ||kollidieren

they don't stop and fall out of the sky. no se detienen y caen del cielo. It's more of a splash than a crash. ||||Spritzwasser||| ||||水しぶき||| Es más un chapoteo que un choque. Orbital speeds are so fast solid pieces spray right through each other, las piezas sólidas se rocían entre sí, transforming the two satellites into clouds of thousands of little things verwandeln|||||||||| still fast enough to destroy more satellites. todavía lo suficientemente rápido como para destruir más satélites. This could trigger the slowest and most destructive sort of domino effect: ||||langsamste||||||Dominoeffekt| ||||最も遅い||||||| Esto podría desencadenar el tipo de efecto dominó más lento y destructivo: a collision cascade. |Kollisions-| |衝突カスケード|

Like a shotgun spray, ||Schrotflinten-S| Como un spray de escopeta,

each collision creates more bullets. ||||Kugeln ||||弾丸 What was once a single tiny target Lo que una vez fue un pequeño objetivo very unlikely to hit anything becomes a wall of destruction muy poco probable que golpee algo se convierte en un muro de destrucción hungry to make more. As more and more satellites are destroyed the destruction accelerates exponentially, eventually destroying everything parked in orbit. |||im Orbit geparkten|| But space is very empty, so the first few collisions may take a long time. ||||Kollisionen||||| By the time we realize what's happening, it's too late. Cuando nos damos cuenta de lo que ocurre, ya es demasiado tarde. One year one satellite is destroyed and that's no big deal. The next year, five.

The year after, 50.

Until there's nothing left. Hasta que no quede nada.

The situation in orbit is rapidly worsening ||||||verschlechtert sich ||||||悪化している and we may already be past the point of no return. y puede que ya hayamos pasado el punto de no retorno. Within 10 years space around Earth may no longer be viable for long term satellites or rockets. |||||||||lebensfähig|||||| |||||||||実行可能|のために||||| Dentro de 10 años, el espacio alrededor de la Tierra podría dejar de ser viable para satélites o cohetes de larga duración. The worst case scenario is horrifying. A debris field made of hundreds of millions of pieces, many too small to track, moving at 30,000 km/h.

It would effectively create a deadly barrier around Earth, possibly too dangerous to cross. Dreams of moon bases, Mars colonies or space travel at all may be set back centuries. 数世代遡る可能性があります。 And the loss of our space infrastructure そして私たちの宇宙インフラの喪失は would send some of the technology we rely on daily back to the 1970s. 私たちが日常的に頼りにしている技術のいくつかを1970年代に送り返すことになります。 But it might not be too late to clean up our mess. While the space industry has become better at avoiding space junk, Mientras que la industria espacial ha mejorado en evitar la basura espacial, В то время как космическая отрасль стала лучше избегать космического мусора, it's still growing fast and occasional weapon tests don't help. |||||gelegentliche|||| |||||時折の|||| она все еще быстро растет, и периодические испытания оружия не помогают. So there have been a couple of wild but also serious suggestions. Así que ha habido un par de sugerencias descabelladas pero también serias. About how to quickly remove as much deadly space junk as possible Sobre cómo eliminar rápidamente toda la basura espacial mortal posible without creating more in the process. Lots of ideas are being thrown around, |||||herumgeworfen| Se están barajando muchas ideas, and some of the most seriously considered ||||||ernsthaft in Betracht involve capture and return missions, which are being tested now. One method involves meeting a piece of junk in orbit with a small satellite and loaded with a net.

Once caught, |einmal gefangen

a small rocket could be used to bring it down towards Earth. Targets too large for a net might be instead caught with a harpoon on a tether. ||||||||||||Harpoon|||Leine |||||||||||||||line ||||||||代わりに||||銛||| Los objetivos demasiado grandes para una red pueden capturarse con un arpón atado a un cable. Instead of firing a rocket ||Abschuss|| En lugar de disparar un cohete the cleaner would deploy a large sail to produce atmospheric drag |der Reiniger||ausfahren|||||||Widerstand |||展開する|||||||抵抗 el limpiador desplegaría una gran vela para producir arrastre atmosférico and accelerate orbital decay.

And there are lots of other wild sci-fi sounding proposals too. |||||||Sci-Fi|||Vorschläge| |||||||科学 fiction|||| Some might use giant electromagnets. ||||Elektromagnete ||||電磁石 These magnetic tugs ||Zugkräfte ||引っ張り

work by pushing on the magnetic components inside satellites that they use to stabilize ||||stabilisieren and orientate themselves in Earth's magnetic field. |sich orientieren||||| |方向を定める||||| These may be safer and more reliable than nets and harpoons ||||||||Netze||Harpunen ||||||||||銛 because they never have to make contact with the junk they're handling, |||||||||||verarbeiten |||||||||||処理 so there's no risk of accidentally breaking up their target into more junk. para que no haya riesgo de romper accidentalmente su objetivo en más basura. As for the tiniest bits of junk, |||winzigsten|Stückchen|| |||最小の|||

lasers might be the key to vaporising them entirely. Laser||||||vergasen|| ||||||蒸発させる|| Satellites with lasers wouldn't need to visit their targets. They can shoot them from far away. Large objects can't exactly be shot down, Los objetos grandes no se pueden derribar precisamente, but lasers can be used to ablate them, ||||||ablatieren| ||||||remove| ||||||切除する| maar lasers kunnen worden gebruikt om ze weg te werken, or burn tiny amounts of material off the side to push the junk to a safer orbit. Whatever technology we use at the end, we better start doing something soon,

before 100 million bullets become a trillion and the trap is set. |||||||||ist| If we don't act,

our adventure in space might end before it's even begun. If our days of dreaming about space exploration might be numbered anyway ||||Träumen||||||gezählt| ||||||||||数えられた| we better put them to good use. One of the things we most like to spend our time on is learning more about our universe. And to do that

you can just keep watching.

Kurzgesagt and Brilliant are collaborating on a six-part video series ||||arbeiten zusammen|||||| about our favorite science and space topics. Kurzgesagt has worked with Brilliant for a bit. KurzgesagtはしばらくBrilliantと協力しています。 And we love how they teach you science and maths in a practical way. 私たちは、彼らが科学や数学を実践的に教える方法が大好きです。 By guiding you through problems step by step. 問題を一歩ずつ案内してくれるからです。 So you can actually understand the concepts behind them. And maybe one day

use your knowledge on problems like space junk. Or at least your science projects to start with.

If you'd like even more edutainment. |||||Bildungsspaß |||||教育エンターテインメント

Go to brilliant.org/nutshell

and sign up for free.

The first 688 people to use the link get their annual premium membership at a 20% discount! |||||||Rabatt And also support our collaboration with Brilliant!