Webinar 14 on "Space Debris"

Updated on

Talk 1: “Space Debris – An Introduction” PPT and VIDEO
Talk 2: “Space Debris – Creation and Risks”   PPT and VIDEO (temp)
Talk 3: “Tracking Space Debris” PPT and VIDEO
Talk 4: “Modelling and Mitigation of Space Debris” PPT and VIDEO
Talk 5: “Space Debris and Space Law”  PPT and  VIDEO
Following was the circular for this webinar:
Space Education and Research Foundation (SERF) announces 14th webinar. This webinar will be on “Space Debris” and consists of five talks. These talks will be presented by 3 Professors (S. M. Bhandari. M.R. Sivaraman and A. R. Dasgupta) These will go live on 17th,18th, 19th, 20th and 21st June 2019 during 06:00 to 07:00 UT. Please check the time in your region (e.g. in India this will be 11:30 to 12:30 hrs).

The titles of the talks are as follows:
Talk 1: “Space Debris – An Introduction” on 17th June 2019 by Prof. S.M. Bhandari
Talk 2: “Space Debris – Creation and Risks” on 18th June 2019 by Prof. M. R. Sivaraman
Talk 3: “Tracking Space Debris” on 19th June 2019 by Prof. M. R. Sivaraman
Talk 4: “Modelling and Mitigation of Space Debris” on 20th June 2019 by Prof.  M. R. Sivaraman
Talk 5: “Space Debris and Space Law” on 21st June 2019 by Prof. A. R. Dasgupta

About the speakers 
(1) Prof. S. M. Bhandari: A Ph. D. in Radio Astronomy from PRL/TIFR, India. Represented India as 'IAU Young Astronomer' and was adjudged "brightest amongst participants" at the IAU School at Indonesia during 1973. Demonstrated new radio astronomical technique of probing Cometary Plasma and discovered the phenomenon of " Cometary Scintillations" in 1975. As a Mission Planning specialist at ISRO Bangalore, was directly involved in opening India's first eye in the sky onboard Bhaskara-1 in 1980. Subsequently, as Scientist at ISRO, Ahmedabad developed a variety of innovative space-based applications to study Earth's Atmosphere, Oceans and Cryosphere. Appointed Associate Project Director of US-NSF multinational INDOEX project at Univ. of California, USA. Served as Resident Scientist at highly sophisticated climate observatory at Kaashidhoo in the Indian Ocean during 1999-2000. Developed ideas and observational techniques to study Total Solar Eclipses from space and ground.  Led a successful Indian Expedition to study Nov. 23, 2003 Total Solar Eclipse near Maitri, Antarctica. Contributed to Science Popularization. Published more than 50 research papers in reputed International journals.

(2)    Prof. M. R. Sivaraman: Prof. M. R. Sivaraman obtained his PhD at Physical Research Laboratory Ahmedabad in 1974. After Ph. D, he joined Space Applications Centre Ahmedabad (a unit of Indian Space Research Organization). He has worked mainly in development of Geo-receivers and GPS receivers as well as their applications. He planned and conducted Time Synchronization and Ka Band Propagation Experiments. He has worked in two major Satellite Navigation Programs GAGAN and IRNSS.  He was Deputy Project Director GAGAN. He published more than 50 research papers. After an excellent work over more than three decades, he retired from Space Application Centre and now associated with “Space Tech Consultants”, Ahmedabad. He has great interest in teaching and popularization of space science. He keeps himself updated on the global space programs and share this information with one and all

  3. Prof. A. R. Dasgupta: Prof Arup Dasgupta obtained his Master of Engineering in Electrical Communications Engineering from Indian Institute of Science Bangalore in 1970. He is currently Managing Editor Geospatial World magazine and was Adjunct faculty in DAIICT and CEPT. He has 48 years of experience in satellite communication, remote sensing and GIS. He retired in 2005 as Deputy Director, SATCOM and IT Applications Area, Space Applications Centre (ISRO) at Ahmedabad. He has also served as an Independent Director in Scanpoint Geomatics from 2009 to 2014 and as a Distinguished Professor, BISAG from 2005 to 2009. For his significant contributions, he received Excellence awards (1) for 2005 from Indian Society of Remote Sensing and (2) for 2016 from the Indian Society of Geomatics. He is also a recipient of Geospatial Lifetime Achievement Award in Geospatial Technologies for 2009 and Astronautical Society of India Award for Space Science and Applications for 2000. He is a Senior Member IEEE, Fellow IETE, Fellow ISG, Life Member INCA and ISRS. His current interests are Space Policy, Convergence of space and information technologies for sustainable development of planet Earth.

Abstracts of the talks of the webinar on “Space Debris”:
This webinar on “Space Debris” consists of five talks by three Professors. The summary of each of these is given below:
Talk 1: “Space Debris – An Introduction” by Prof S. M. Bhandari
Unintended cluttering of Earth's orbital space by numerous non-functional satellites launched over six decades, as well as their fragmentation and collisional products, termed Space Debris, is now turning into a threat to the very future of space activities. The talk would attempt to define Space Debris, discuss the current scenario in terms of threat it presents, and the corrective measures being planned to mitigate the problem.

Talk 2: “Space Debris – Creation and Risks” by Prof M. R. Sivaraman
The various sources of Space debris are discussed with examples. The main sources are Dead Space Crafts, Lost equipments in Space by Astronauts, Rocket Boosters, Anti Satellite Weapons. These are discussed with examples in this Lecture. India’s ASAT Mission is also discussed in detail. The major risks involved due to Space debris are damages caused to (1) Orbiting Satellites (2) Space Shuttle Missions and (3) Earth and these are also discussed with examples, in this Lecture.

Talk 3: “Tracking Space Debris” by Prof M. R. Sivaraman
The Four major Space Debris Tracking Networks in operation at present viz. (1) The United States Space Surveillance Network (2) Tracking Network of European Space Agency (ESA) (3) Russian Space Surveillance Network (4) ISRO Facility at Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SHAR), at Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh are discussed in detail, in this Lecture.  The   major Tracking Techniques used are (1) Cameras (2) Ground based electro optical Telescopes (3) Space surveillance Radio telescopes (4) Radars (5) Laser Tracking. These are briefly discussed. Salient features of ISRO’s Multi Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) is also discussed in this Lecture.

Talk 4: “Modelling and Mitigation of Space Debris” by Prof M. R. Sivaraman
 Models developed for Future prediction of location of Space debris, using the Tracking data are discussed in this Lecture. Various forces acting on Space debris are discussed in detail. Basic approach behind Models, mainly ISRO Model is discussed in detail.  Various Mitigation successfully tested and under development are discussed in detail in this Lecture.

Talk 5: “Space Debris and Space Law” by Prof. A. R. Dasgupta
In 1967 the United Nations passed the Outer Space Treaty declaring that Outer Space is a common heritage for all humankind. However, since then there has been dramatic developments in Space. The number of space objects have increased exponentially which include satellites, launch paraphernalia, debris from space object collisions and antisatellite tests. All this might lead to the ‘Kessler Effect’ where one damage leads to many more, like a highway pile up on an expressway. This has been dramatized in the film ‘Gravity’. To deal with this in 1976 it became mandatory for each country to maintain a register of the items launched into space by them. In 1972 a Liability Convention was drawn up which holds the Launching country liable for damages caused by items launched by it to third party assets in space, air and ground. Currently there are only voluntary standards and guidelines by agencies like the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee to manage space objects including debris mitigation. This lecture will cover all these aspects in detail.