PARIS: Scientists are considering plans to mount laser cannon on the International Space Station for shooting down debris trapped in orbit. Space junk has been adding up in low-Earth orbit and has become a growing problem for satellites and near-Earth space missions. As the amount of orbiting space junk grows, so increases the likelihood of collisions, which can produce a cascade of other collisions in a chain reaction of debris dispersal.
NASA researcher believes that the low-Earth orbit area of space contains about 3,000 tons of debris. The debris comes from sources like defunct satellites, parts of rockets and pieces of space equipment broken off by collisions. According to Discovery News, even small pieces of debris, like screws, can cause significant damage to satellites due to their travel speeds reaching 22,370 mph.
