“Nobody has ever wondered what the effect of that is,” says Ilsen. “It only concerns a few hundred kilos per day. Asteroids and other things from nature that fall to Earth involve much larger masses. But of course these are not metal particles. This story is specifically about those metals. particles that can have an effect.”
Musk’s big plans
The number of satellites, and therefore also metal particles, is increasing exponentially. Billionaire Elon Musk has something to do with that. “Not only does he make cheap rockets that allow more and more companies to launch satellites, he also makes his own Starlink system with his space company SpaceX,” says Ilsen.
“There are currently about 6,000 satellites in low Earth orbit. He plans to make 40,000 of them.” These are also regularly updated. “They fall back and are reintroduced, because the technology evolves. Ultimately, about 20 could fall back into the atmosphere per day. They would all burn up.”
“The question is whether that could become a problem and whether we should not anticipate it,” he said.
To keep an eye on
The atmosphere around the Earth is of crucial importance. “You have the ozone layer that filters the UV light. But you also have a magnetosphere: that is a protective layer around the Earth, created by the magnetic field. It ensures that large, heavy solar storms do not reach our Earth.”
“We know that this is a very fragile layer and that occasionally, for example by a rocket launch, small holes are pushed into the fragile layer. This will be closed automatically after a few hours.” It is not yet clear what impact metal particles can have on the ozone layer or magnetosphere.
Tags: metal dust burnedout satellites harmful atmosphere wondered effect read
