Please join us at the Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability on Friday 28th June 2024 for the next installment of our seminar series. We will be joined by Prof Don Pollacco from the Department of Physics, who will talk to us about "The threat to habitability of space debris".

Abstract

The threat to civilisation from our pollution of the near Earth Environment has recently been assessed as so severe that it has been elevated to the UK national risk register alongside threats from pandemics and extreme solar storms etc. This has arisen from the realisation that much of modern life is dependant on the use of satellites: Industries such as finance, communication and even agriculture have become deeply dependant on satellite services. As such the effects of space debris extend beyond technological disruption, potentially affecting environmental monitoring, hazardous material management, ethical considerations and global broadcasting

In this talk I’ll look at the growing threat from space debris and how we try and study this population along with projections for the future. I’ll also introduce a Warwick led innovation called the “Digital Telescope” which could transform our knowledge of space debris.