Experts say microscopic paint flecks could bring the internet down without warning
Experts have revealed that microscopic paint flecks could bring the internet down without warning.
This comes as a major issue facing scientists at the moment is the accumulation of space junk floating around above our atmosphere.
There are millions of pieces of trash floating in orbit around Earth traveling at speeds so quick, they are moving around seven times faster than a bullet.
Speaking to Metro, Dr Penelope Wozniakiewicz shared that she had received funding for a project to show just how dangerous this space junk could become.
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She explained: “Space debris is one of the fastest-growing threats to the future of space exploration.”
In order to prove this, a team of researchers at the University of Kent will simulate collisions that could occur in space.
Using things like aluminium plates, rods and spheres traveling into each other at very high speeds, the experts will be able to safely replicate the types of satellite crashes we face in orbit.
Wozniakiewicz continued: “With this project, we can generate the high-precision data that agencies and companies worldwide need to build a safer, cleaner and more sustainable space environment.”
Fears have grown in recent years that the Kessler Syndrome could one day become a reality.
The Kessler Syndrome is a scenario that was first thought up in 1978 by two NASA scientists - Donald Kessler and Burton Cour-Palais.
The theory is that, if we keep sending more and more spacecraft into space, then the space around Earth is going to become overcrowded.
NASA said: “Spent rockets, satellites and other space trash have accumulated in orbit increasing the likelihood of collision with other debris.
“Unfortunately, collisions create more debris creating a runaway chain reaction of collisions and more debris known as the Kessler Syndrome after the man who first proposed the issue, Donald Kessler.”
In the worst case scenario, a chain reaction of collisions could be caused that has the potential to destroy essential communications satellites around the planet.
In this case, the situation will then become so volatile that we can't successfully send up new satellites to replace the broken ones due to the area of space in which they orbit becoming unstable and full of fast-moving debris.
This debris will smash anything new into a thousand pieces.
There are currently more than 10,000 satellites orbiting the Earth and more than 100 trillion pieces of old satellites still circling the planet, with parts occasionally falling into Earth's atmosphere over time and burning up.