Aeroculture, Cubrecampo, and Space Debris

Posted on Jan 29, 2025 in Geology

Aeroculture

The Aeroculture technique involves the installation of a high-altitude mattress with helium, which captures humidity and allows the growth of plant life, including grasses and other plants. These plants, by their nature, make possible, at the same time, the birth of small animals, such as snails and insects.

The Cubrecampo

The Cubrecampo (from “covers” and “field”) is a large synthetic fabric, preferably dome-shaped and sustained by balloons, which together can protect plantations, lakes, and glaciers from evaporation caused by intense solar radiation.
The intense sunlight of the Atacama Desert and Norte Chico kills plants such as grasses and vegetables, even if they have fresh water. However, if they are provided with a fabric shade that covers them, they can develop fully.
The plants listed, and other textiles, thrive when wet and arranged horizontally and vertically, as the plants set their roots to the textile. Thus, vertical planting utilizes more space and yields greater production.
Because textiles are very light, and the added water contains all the nutrients needed by plants and is free of harmful fungi and insects, these crops represent a huge advantage over heavy, polluted soil.
Thus, textiles planted on the ground and sustained and protected by the Cubrecampo can be transported to Mars and fall on its surface like a large parachute. On the basis of this Cubrecampo, there must be water tanks, and the plants will absorb the water upwards. The water vapor must escape the Cubrecampo.
More information.


Space Junk

Space junk is any useless artificial object orbiting the Earth. It consists of things as varied as large remnants of old rockets and satellites, explosion debris, or remnants of rocket components such as dust and small particles of paint.

Space trash is a concern that, without a doubt, will soon start to become important.

Despite the small size of most of the fragments, the dizzying speed with which they are traveling makes them a serious threat to any mission that may be made in the near future.

Since 1991, there have been at least three collisions in Earth’s orbit because of debris. These collisions will multiply and, in turn, increase the number of dangerous objects in orbit. The mathematical progression calculated by experts puts the number of accidents caused by this scrap at more than 18 crashes per year within two centuries.

The Events of the Explosion of Upper Stages

The events of the explosion of upper stages of launch vehicles represent the most important contribution to the problem of space junk. About 100 tons of fragments generated from about 200 explosions are still in orbit. Space junk is more concentrated in low Earth orbit, though some extends beyond the geostationary orbit.

At the end of 2003, there were 10,000 cataloged objects. However, it is estimated that there are more than 50,000 objects larger than one centimeter.

According to Nature magazine, the U.S. has now cataloged more than 9,000 artificial objects, weighing a total of more than five tons. Most of these devices are in ruins and pose a great risk to space missions.