In the next 20 years, the number of satellites around the Moon is expected to skyrocket with more than 400 missions planned from the US, China and Russia to serve mineral exploitation and build a base. However, this explosion comes with a difficult problem: Disposing space waste.
If the Earth's dense atmosphere helps burn falling objects, the Moon is completely bare. Therefore, when the satellites expire or are damaged, they will not be able to self-destroy, but will be forced to plunge down and lie permanently on the surface.
Dr Fionagh Thomson from the University of Durham (UK) is concerned that this situation will turn the Moon into a giant landfill if there is no control.
Scientists point out that the biggest risk is not only waste, but free-range collisions. With a landfall speed of up to nearly 2 km/s, the satellites could destroy research facilities, sensitive measurement equipment and even erase historical sites such as the footsteps of the Apollo crew.
More worryingly, the moon dust. The strong impact from the collision will sweep away huge clouds of dust. This type of dust is inherently sharp and highly eroding, if floating, it will stick to solar panels or obscure the visibility of lunar objects, causing great damage to the missions in operation.
Faced with this situation, operators have very few options. The plan to push the satellite towards the Sun consumes too much fuel, while putting it back into a waiting orbit is not feasible due to the uneven pulling of the Moon, causing the flight path to be unstable.
Therefore, experts say the most practical solution is to establish specific "grbage lands".
Accordingly, the operator will control the old satellites to crash into pre- designated areas, or take advantage of existing deep holes to "closure" the dirt, limiting their spread. The European Space Agency (ESA) and the parties to the Artemis Accords are discussing the process.
In addition to the purpose of cleaning up trash, this plan also brings a surprising scientific benefit. Professor John Zarnecki from the Open University (UK) said that accurate control of mass, speed and collision locations will turn these landslides into artificial seismic Experiments, helping geologists better understand the structure inside the Moon's core.
