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There’s one particularly disturbing outer space act that people reckon will be made illegal in the next 25 years.
You read that right, there’s something you can currently do in space that’s perfectly legal, that may one day be outlawed completely.
The issue has sparked much debate on social media after one person took to Reddit to speculate on things that are legal now “but most likely won’t be in 25 years”.
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While some people theorized that things like family vlogging might one day be a thing of the past or that drones may become something you need a license to buy, there was a particular topic that had a lot of people talking.
One person wrote their own prediction, posting: “Leaving trash in orbit.”
While it’s something that many of us wouldn’t even consider to be an issues - considering how massive space is - it turns out that it’s a bigger problem than you might think.
Another user replied to the post, adding: “This one is a pretty big deal that I don’t think the average person thinks about.
“I can’t remember who I was listening to talk about the fact that it’s possible that we imprison ourselves on our own planet and that we reach that point long before we have any feasible way to fix it.”
One user asked: “Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but why? What is wrong with space junk?”
This prompted a reply which read: “Do you like being able to use GPS and satellite technology?
“Because the more crap we throw into space, the more and more of a massive cloud of what is basically buckshot is flying around the earth at about 18,000 miles per hour in orbit, which will eventually (unchecked) make satellites impossible and/or useless because they'll be unable to orbit without being turned into Swiss cheese.”
Someone else mentioned the 'scary' Kessler Effect, which suggests that when the amount of space debris in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) reaches a certain level, it will trigger a cascade effect in which this debris will be constantly colliding and breaking up to multiply the amount of debris.
This could create a permanent danger for any satellite or spacecraft in orbit.
However, it looks like there could be good news in the future as another person added: “It's very actively being worked on and really good progress is being made. One of the few things the feds are actually funding honestly for the public.”
