Why the space is full of waste - VPRO documentary
172What is a Space Waste lab, and why do we need a Space Waste lab? What is the idea behind the Space Waste lab? A documentary about Waste in the Space and the reason why we should care about it.
Artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde are on a mission. He wants to clean the Space. More than 100 million pieces of "space waste," debris of discarded satellites and rockets, are already roaming around the earth. They have a speed of 25,000 km per hour, and a collision can have catastrophic consequences for communication on earth. How can we clean up Space, and who will do that?
Is our planet trapped in its space debris? Nearly 30,000 identified pieces of space-waste larger than 10 centimeters circle around the earth at a speed of 7 km per second, and that is increasing all the time.
Pieces of satellites, rockets and weather and space stations break down regularly. According to estimates by the European Space Agency (ESA), there are now around 7,500 tons of scrap metal floating above our heads, from minuscule particles to chunks of a city bus size.
In 1957, the Russian artificial moon Sputnik was the first satellite to orbit the earth. There was no idea about the recovery of the discarded space ship. Meanwhile, around 1,500 working satellites are circling the planet and about the same number of "dead" ones. In the "new space" era, it is no longer governments, but commercial companies that colonize Space. For example, Elon Musk's SpaceX wants to launch under the name "Starlink" another 12,000 new satellites into Space for global internet coverage until the year 2024. Also, the latest trend is the "cube sat," a mini-satellite the size of a milk carton, to be built in a garage and for sale for everyone.
As more and more satellites populate the Space around the earth to provide us with blazing fast internet, the space debris problem becomes acute, and the danger of an endless chain reaction increases.
It is therefore high time to clean up Space, but who is going to do that? Innovator and artist Daan Roosegaarde draws attention to the problem with his Space Waste Lab and comes up with surprising solutions.
Original title: Ruimtepuinruimers
Originally broadcasted by VPRO in 2019.
© VPRO Backlight March 2019
On VPRO broadcast you will find nonfiction videos with English subtitles, French subtitles and Spanish subtitles, such as documentaries, short interviews and documentary series.
VPRO Documentary publishes one new subtitled documentary about current affairs, finance, sustainability, climate change or politics every week. We research subjects like politics, world economy, society and science with experts and try to grasp the essence of prominent trends and developments.
Subscribe to our channel for great, subtitled, recent documentaries.
Visit additional youtube channels bij VPRO broadcast:
VPRO Broadcast, all international VPRO programs: https://www.youtube.com/VPRObroadcast
VPRO DOK, German only documentaries: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBi0VEPANmiT5zOoGvCi8Sg
VPRO Metropolis, remarkable stories from all over the world: https://www.youtube.com/user/VPROmetropolis
VPRO World Stories, the travel series of VPRO: https://www.youtube.com/VPROworldstories
VPRO Extra, additional footage and one off's: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTLrhK07g6LP-JtT0VVE56A
www.VPRObroadcast.com
Credits:
Director: Bregtje van der Haak
Research: William de Bruijn
Camera: Jean Counet, Maarten Kramer
Sound: Rik Meier, Farhad Katrahmani, Mark Witte, Marcel de Hoogd
Edit: Sonja ten Boom
Picture Editor: Rob Dorresteijn
Online Editor: Arja van den Bergh
Production: Marie Schutgens
Commissioning Editors: Marije Meerman, Doke Romeijn
Archives: ESA- European Space Agency, CNES/Arianespace, FleetMon, NASA, SES, Studio Roosegaarde, Thales Alenia Space, University of Surrey
English, French and Spanish subtitles: Ericsson.
French and Spanish subtitles are co-funded by European Union.