Let's clean up the space junk orbiting Earth | Natalie Panek | TEDxToronto
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0:05 - 0:07Our lives depend
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0:07 - 0:08on a world we can't see.
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0:09 - 0:11Think about your week so far.
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0:11 - 0:15Have you watched TV, used GPS,
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0:15 - 0:18checked the weather or even ate a meal?
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0:18 - 0:21These many things
that enable our daily lives -
0:21 - 0:24rely either directly or indirectly
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0:24 - 0:25on satellites.
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0:25 - 0:27And while we often take for granted
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0:27 - 0:30the services that satellites provide us,
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0:30 - 0:33the satellites themselves
deserve our attention -
0:33 - 0:35as they are leaving a lasting mark
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0:35 - 0:37on the space they occupy.
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0:37 - 0:41People around the world
rely on satellite infrastructure every day -
0:41 - 0:45for information, entertainment
and to communicate. -
0:45 - 0:48There's agricultural
and environmental monitoring, -
0:48 - 0:51Internet connectivity, navigation.
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0:51 - 0:52Satellites even play a role
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0:53 - 0:56in the operation of our financial
and energy markets. -
0:57 - 0:58But these satellites that we rely on
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0:58 - 1:00day in and day out
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1:00 - 1:02have a finite life.
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1:02 - 1:04They might run out of propellant,
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1:04 - 1:05they could malfunction,
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1:05 - 1:09or they may just naturally
reach the end of their mission life. -
1:09 - 1:13At this point, these satellites
effectively become space junk, -
1:13 - 1:15cluttering the orbital environment.
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1:16 - 1:20So a framework that enables
sustainable practices in space -
1:20 - 1:21is necessary.
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1:21 - 1:23Such as the disposal of dead satellites,
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1:23 - 1:25or the cleanup of debris.
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1:26 - 1:27Otherwise,
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1:27 - 1:31space will continue to be
our invisible landfill. -
1:32 - 1:36People always say to me, "Space is big,
there's lots of room up there. -
1:36 - 1:38Why do we need to take action?"
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1:38 - 1:41And to answer that question,
I want to paint a picture for you. -
1:42 - 1:46So imagine you're driving down the highway
on a beautiful, sunny day -
1:46 - 1:47out running errands.
-
1:47 - 1:49You've got your music cranked,
-
1:49 - 1:50your windows rolled down,
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1:50 - 1:53with the cool breeze
blowing through your hair. -
1:53 - 1:54Feels nice, right?
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1:55 - 1:57Everything is going smoothly
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1:57 - 2:00until suddenly
your car stutters and stalls -
2:00 - 2:02right in the middle of the highway.
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2:02 - 2:04In that instant moment of panic,
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2:04 - 2:07you scan your front dashboard
looking for what could be wrong. -
2:08 - 2:11And then you eye that your fule gauge
has dropped below empty. -
2:11 - 2:12You're out of gas.
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2:13 - 2:14So what do you do?
-
2:14 - 2:17You naturally go to reach
for your cell phone to call for help. -
2:17 - 2:20But then you suddenly remember
that this car you bought -
2:21 - 2:23could never be fixed if a part breaks,
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2:23 - 2:26or refilled with gas if the tank runs out.
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2:26 - 2:28It just wasn't designed that way.
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2:29 - 2:32So now you have no choice
but to abandon your car -
2:32 - 2:34where it is on the highway.
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2:35 - 2:36Maybe you were lucky enough
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2:36 - 2:39to be able to move it out of the way
and into a shoulder lane -
2:39 - 2:41so that it's out of the way
of other traffic. -
2:41 - 2:43A couple of hours ago,
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2:43 - 2:47your car was a useful machine
that you relied on in your everyday life. -
2:48 - 2:50Now, it's a useless hunk of metal
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2:50 - 2:54taking up space in a valuable
transportation network. -
2:55 - 2:59And imagine international roadways
all cluttered with broken down vehicles -
2:59 - 3:02that are just getting in the way
of other traffic. -
3:02 - 3:05And imagine the debris
that would be strewn everywhere -
3:05 - 3:07if a collision actually happened,
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3:07 - 3:10thousands of smaller pieces of debris
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3:10 - 3:12becoming new obstacles.
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3:12 - 3:16This is the paradigm
of the satellite industry. -
3:16 - 3:18Satellites that are no longer working
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3:18 - 3:22are often left to deorbit
over many, many years, -
3:22 - 3:26or only moved out of the way
as a temporary solution. -
3:26 - 3:28And there are no
international laws in space -
3:28 - 3:31to enforce us to clean up after ourselves.
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3:31 - 3:33Without disposing of dead satellites,
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3:33 - 3:36or taking action to clean up debris,
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3:36 - 3:39we are already polluters in outer space.
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3:39 - 3:43And this is largely in part
because us, all of us here, -
3:43 - 3:46rely on the services
that satellites provide us, -
3:46 - 3:49without really understanding the impacts
of our usage. -
3:50 - 3:53If we want to keep using our phones,
checking the weather, -
3:53 - 3:56and so many other
technological conveniences -
3:56 - 3:59afforded to us because of satellites,
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3:59 - 4:01we have to have a clean up plan in place.
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4:02 - 4:05So the world's first satellite, Sputnik I,
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4:05 - 4:07was launched in 1957,
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4:07 - 4:10and in that year, there were
only a total of three launch attempts. -
4:11 - 4:15Decades later and dozens of countries
from all around the world -
4:15 - 4:18have launched thousands
of more satellites into orbit, -
4:18 - 4:22and the frequency of launches
is only going to increase in the future, -
4:22 - 4:24especially if you consider
things like the possibility -
4:24 - 4:28of 900-plus satellite
constellations being launched. -
4:29 - 4:31Now, we send satellites
to different orbits -
4:31 - 4:33depending on what they're needed for.
-
4:33 - 4:36One of the most common places
we send satellites -
4:36 - 4:37is the low Earth orbit,
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4:37 - 4:39possibly to image the surface of Earth
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4:39 - 4:42at up to about 2,000 kilometers altitude.
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4:42 - 4:46Satellites there are naturally buffeted
by Earth's atmosphere, -
4:46 - 4:48so their orbits naturally decay,
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4:48 - 4:50and they'll eventually burn up,
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4:50 - 4:52probably within a couple of decades.
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4:53 - 4:55Another common place we send satellites
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4:55 - 4:57is the geostationary orbit
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4:57 - 4:59at about 35,000 kilometers altitude.
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5:00 - 5:04Satellites there remain in the same place
above Earth as the Earth rotates, -
5:04 - 5:08which enables things like communications
or television broadcast, for example. -
5:09 - 5:13Satellites in high orbits like these
could remain there for centuries. -
5:14 - 5:17And then there's the orbit
coined "the graveyard," -
5:17 - 5:20the ominous junk or disposal orbits,
-
5:20 - 5:23where some satellites
are intentionally placed -
5:23 - 5:24at the end of their life
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5:24 - 5:28so that they're out of the way
of common operational orbits. -
5:29 - 5:34Of the nearly 7,000 satellites
launched since the late 1950s, -
5:34 - 5:37only about one in seven
is currently operational, -
5:38 - 5:40and in addition to the satellites
that are no longer working, -
5:40 - 5:44there's also hundreds of thousands
of marble-sized debris -
5:44 - 5:46and millions of paint chip-sized debris
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5:46 - 5:48that are also orbiting around the Earth.
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5:49 - 5:52Space debris is a major risk
to space missions, -
5:52 - 5:56but also to the satellites
that we rely on each and every day. -
5:57 - 6:00Now, because space debris and junk
has become increasingly worrisome, -
6:00 - 6:03there have been some national
and international efforts -
6:03 - 6:04to develop technical standards
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6:04 - 6:07to help us limit the generation
of additional debris. -
6:08 - 6:10So for example, there are recommendations
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6:10 - 6:12for those low-Earth orbiting spacecraft
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6:12 - 6:15to be made to deorbit in under 25 years,
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6:16 - 6:18but that's still a really long time,
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6:18 - 6:21especially if a satellite
hasn't been working for years. -
6:22 - 6:25There's also mandates
for those dead geostationary spacecraft -
6:25 - 6:27to be moved into a graveyard orbit.
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6:28 - 6:31But neither of these guidelines
is binding under international law, -
6:31 - 6:36and the understanding is that they will be
implemented through national mechanisms. -
6:36 - 6:39These guidelines are also not long-term,
-
6:39 - 6:40they're not proactive,
-
6:40 - 6:43nor do they address
the debris that's already up there. -
6:43 - 6:47They're only in place
to limit the future creation of debris. -
6:48 - 6:51Space junk is no one's responsibility.
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6:52 - 6:55So, I grew up with the huge appreciation
for the outdoors -
6:55 - 6:59and the keen sense of our footprint
on the environments we interact with. -
6:59 - 7:01One of the foremost codes
of outdoor conduct -
7:01 - 7:03is the "leave no trace" policy
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7:03 - 7:05where we show care and respect
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7:05 - 7:07for our wild [unclear] on Earth,
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7:07 - 7:10doing our part to protect our resources.
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7:10 - 7:13Here on Earth, it's a bit easier
to visualize waste -
7:13 - 7:15in our natural environments.
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7:15 - 7:17We can see litter in our streets,
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7:17 - 7:20in our neighborhoods
and even in our oceans. -
7:21 - 7:23The orbital environment is no different -
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7:23 - 7:26it demands our care,
it demands our attention -
7:26 - 7:29and it demands our stewardship.
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7:29 - 7:32Because space is simply
a different kind of wilderness -
7:32 - 7:34that we need to protect.
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7:34 - 7:36We need a "leave no trace"policy
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7:36 - 7:40extending all the way
into the orbital environment and beyond. -
7:40 - 7:43And fostering a collective
sense of responsibility -
7:43 - 7:45can help us reduce our impact.
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7:46 - 7:49Now, Mount Everest is actually
an interesting comparison -
7:49 - 7:52of a new approach to how
we interact with our environments, -
7:52 - 7:55as it's often given the dubious honor
-
7:55 - 7:58of being the world's highest garbage dump.
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7:59 - 8:02Decades after the first conquest
of the world's highest peak, -
8:02 - 8:04tons of rubbish left behind by climbers
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8:04 - 8:06has started to raise concern,
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8:06 - 8:09and you may have read in the news
that there's speculation -
8:09 - 8:11that Nepal will crack down on mountaineers
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8:11 - 8:15with stricter enforcement
of penalties and legal obligations. -
8:16 - 8:18The goal, of course,
is to persuade climbers -
8:18 - 8:20to clean up after themselves,
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8:20 - 8:25so maybe local not-for-profits will pay
climbers who bring down extra waste, -
8:25 - 8:29or expeditions might organize
voluntary cleanup trips. -
8:29 - 8:31And yet still many climbers feel
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8:32 - 8:35that independent groups
should police themselves. -
8:35 - 8:38There's no simple or easy answer,
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8:38 - 8:41and even well-intentioned
efforts at conservation -
8:41 - 8:43often run into problems.
-
8:43 - 8:47But that doesn't mean
we shouldn't do everything in our power -
8:47 - 8:50to protect the environments
that we rely and depend on, -
8:51 - 8:55and like Everest, the remote location
and inadequate infrastructure -
8:55 - 8:56of the orbital environment
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8:56 - 8:58make waste disposal a challenging problem.
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8:59 - 9:02But we simply cannot reach new heights
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9:02 - 9:05and create an even higher garbage dump,
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9:05 - 9:07one that's out of this world.
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9:08 - 9:10The reality of space
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9:10 - 9:12is that if a component
on a satellite breaks down, -
9:12 - 9:15there really are limited
opportunities for repairs, -
9:15 - 9:17and only at great cost.
-
9:18 - 9:21But what if we were smarter
about how we designed satellites? -
9:21 - 9:23What if all satellites,
-
9:23 - 9:25regardless of what country
they were built in, -
9:25 - 9:27had to be standardized in some way
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9:27 - 9:29for recycling, servicing
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9:30 - 9:31or active deorbiting?
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9:32 - 9:35What if there actually were
international laws with teeth -
9:35 - 9:38that enforced end-of-life
disposal of satellites -
9:38 - 9:40instead of moving them out of the way
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9:40 - 9:42as a temporary solution?
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9:43 - 9:46Or maybe satellite manufacturers
need to be charged a deposit -
9:46 - 9:48to even launch a satellite into orbit,
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9:48 - 9:50and that deposit would only be returned
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9:50 - 9:53if the satellite was disposed of properly
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9:53 - 9:56or if they cleaned up
some quota of debris. -
9:57 - 9:59Or maybe a satellite
needs to have technology on board -
9:59 - 10:01to help accelerate deorbit.
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10:02 - 10:04There are some encouraging signs.
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10:04 - 10:09The UK's TechDemoSat-1,
launched in 2014, for example, -
10:09 - 10:11was designed for end-of-life disposal
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10:11 - 10:13via a small drag sail.
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10:13 - 10:15This works for the satellite
because it's small, -
10:15 - 10:19but satellites that are higher
or in larger orbits -
10:19 - 10:22or are larger altogether,
like the size of school buses, -
10:22 - 10:24will require other disposal options.
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10:24 - 10:27So maybe you get into things
like high-powered lasers -
10:27 - 10:29or tugging using nets or tethers,
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10:29 - 10:32as crazy as those sound in the short term.
-
10:32 - 10:34And then one really cool possibility
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10:34 - 10:38is the idea of orbital tow trucks
or space mechanics. -
10:38 - 10:40Imagine if a robotic arm
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10:40 - 10:41on some sort of space tow truck
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10:41 - 10:44could fix the broken components
on a satellite, -
10:44 - 10:46making them usable again.
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10:46 - 10:48Or what if that very same robotic arm
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10:48 - 10:51could refuel the propellant tank
on a spacecraft -
10:51 - 10:53that relies on chemical propulsion
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10:53 - 10:56just like you or I would refuel
the fuel tanks on our cars? -
10:57 - 10:58Robotic repair and maintenance
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10:58 - 11:02could extend the lives of hundreds
of satellites orbiting around the Earth. -
11:03 - 11:06Whatever the disposal
or cleanup options we come up with, -
11:06 - 11:09it's clearly not just a technical problem.
-
11:09 - 11:14There's also complex space laws
and politics that we have to sort out. -
11:14 - 11:19Simply put, we haven't found a way
to use space sustainably yet. -
11:20 - 11:23Exploring, innovating
to change the way we live and work -
11:23 - 11:25are what we as humans do,
-
11:25 - 11:26and in space exploration,
-
11:26 - 11:30we're literally moving
beyond the boundaries of Earth. -
11:30 - 11:33But as we push thresholds
in the name of learning and innovation, -
11:33 - 11:39we must remember that accountability
for our environments never goes away. -
11:40 - 11:44There is without doubt congestion
in the low Earth and geostationary orbits, -
11:44 - 11:46and we cannot keep
launching new satellites -
11:46 - 11:48to replace the ones that have broken down
-
11:48 - 11:51without doing something about them first,
-
11:51 - 11:53just like we would never
leave a broken down car -
11:53 - 11:54in the middle of the highway.
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11:55 - 11:57Earth's orbit is not a limitless resource
-
11:57 - 11:59and the problem will only get worse
-
11:59 - 12:02without a significant change
to our behaviors. -
12:02 - 12:05We need a global and collective cimmitment
-
12:05 - 12:08to shared responsibilities
beyond our planet. -
12:09 - 12:13So, today I want to leave each
and every one of you with a challenge. -
12:13 - 12:15And that's to become a space steward.
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12:15 - 12:17Next time you use your phone,
-
12:17 - 12:19check the weather or use your GPS,
-
12:19 - 12:24think about the satellite technologies
that make those activities possible. -
12:24 - 12:26But also think about the very impact
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12:26 - 12:29that the satellites have
on the environment surrounding Earth, -
12:29 - 12:34and help spread the message
that together we must reduce our impact. -
12:34 - 12:36Earth orbit is breathtakingly beautiful
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12:36 - 12:39and our gateway to exploration.
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12:39 - 12:41It's up to us to keep it that way.
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12:43 - 12:44Thank you.
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12:44 - 12:46(Applause)
- Title:
- Let's clean up the space junk orbiting Earth | Natalie Panek | TEDxToronto
- Description:
-
Our lives depend on a world we can't see: the satellite infrastructure we use every day for information, entertainment, communication and so much more. But Earth orbit isn't a limitless resource, and the problem of space debris will get worse without a significant change to our behavior. Natalie Panek challenges us to consider the environmental impact of the satellites we rely on. Our orbital environment is breathtakingly beautiful and our gateway to exploration, she says. It's up to us to keep it that way.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 12:55
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Space: our invisible landfill | Natalie Panek | TEDxToronto | ||
TED Translators admin edited English subtitles for Space: our invisible landfill | Natalie Panek | TEDxToronto |