Q. With reference to space debris, consider the following statements:
1.Space debris encompasses both natural meteoroid and artificial (human-made) orbital debris.
2.Elsa-d mission was launched by the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) for the demonstration of the space debris removal system.
3.Project NETRA is an initiative by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) to detect debris and hazards to Indian satellites. .
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Statement 1 is correct: Space debris encompasses both natural meteoroid and artificial (human-made) orbital debris. Meteoroids are in orbit about the sun, while most artificial debris is in orbit about the Earth (hence the term “orbital” debris). Orbital debris is any human-made object in orbit about the Earth that no longer serves a useful function. Such debris includes nonfunctional spacecraft, abandoned launch vehicle stages, mission-related debris, and fragmentation debris.
Statement 2 is incorrect: Space startup Astroscale has launched ELSA-d, the demonstration mission for its End-of-Life Services by Astroscale (ELSA) technology, which aims to dock with, and then safely remove, orbital debris. ELSA-d the world’s first commercial mission to demonstrate a space debris removal system.
Statement 3 is correct: Project NETRA is an initiative by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which is an early warning system in space to detect debris and hazards to the Indian satellites.
Under this project, the ISRO plans to put up many observational facilities like telescopes, connected radars, data processing units, and a control center. With this project, India aims at gaining its own capability of Space Situational Awareness (SSA). Current India gets its information about the space debris from North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), which is an initiative by the U.S. and Canada.
