Dateline: February 16 2037
It’s a fact: we are stuck on Earth indefinitely while our brave explorers are fighting for their lives on the moon, on Mars, and in the asteroid belt’s mining communities. The nightmare scenario, the Kessler Syndrome, that satellite operators and space agencies have warned about for years, materialised yesterday.
A commercial satellite launch malfunctioned, with the rocket and payload tumbling uncontrolled and at full speed into the low Earth orbital plane, crashing into a number of Starlink satellites. The debris generated by the collisions cascaded laterally and outward, creating the Kessler Syndrome — a hailstorm of high-velocity debris smashing into other satellites, initiating a chain reaction of more collisions and even more debris. Not only did it wipe out the satellites in low Earth orbit, but spread within a couple of hours all the way out to geostationary orbit, obliterating both GPS and weather satellites.
“The worldwide traffic chaos experienced overnight is a direct result of our cars and machines losing the GPS network,” director Thomson of Nasa explained. “We should be glad most of us don’t access the internet via satellites.” Those who do have lost all connectivity.
It will probably take weeks, if not months, to clear the traffic jams. Agriculture and food deliveries have ground to a halt, and flights will be severely delayed. The initial analysis has shown that the orbital planes are so full of debris, that traversing through them, or even replacing the satellites, is now not technically possible. Hundreds of astronauts inhabiting the four moon bases, MarsOne, and mining the asteroid belt are stranded and left to fend for themselves.
Crisis teams at Nasa, CNSA in China, ESA in Europe, and Russia’s Roscosmos are already looking at various ways of clearing a path for new spacecraft launches. Leaked rumours include solutions such as using the Asteroid Defence Co-operative’s nuclear rockets to blast through the debris or using high-powered lasers to vaporise orbiting junk.
Meanwhile, SpaceX is planning an exploratory mission to the edge of the debris field as early as next week. Its reusable Starships are ideal for a less violent way of dealing with the debris and can scoop up bigger pieces with graphene “nets”.
“We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to clean up space and remove obsolete satellites,” Dan Woyzek, spokesperson for SpaceX, said.
Whichever solution is selected, it may take years before we can resume normal space flight or have a functioning GPS system again. Until we have developed a way to use mobile phone and Wi-Fi networks for precise navigation, we won’t have autonomous vehicles, Google maps, predictive food deliveries, or reliable supply chains.
- First published on Mindbullets February 16 2023
Solar storm maroons astronauts on Lunar Gateway
Who switched off the internet?
Dateline: September 24 2031
That’s the problem with the digital, connected, electronic age. When you’re used to the lights always being on, and everything available, on demand, it’s a shock to the system when the world goes dark and silent.
The sun has been so quiet for so long that we’ve become complacent and were totally unprepared for the solar “superflare” that hit us yesterday. The coronal mass ejection created a geomagnetic storm of charged particles streaming around our planet, generating catastrophic electrical surges on Earth and knocking out satellite systems in space.
But you know this. Your city is probably suffering a total blackout too. Your Wi-Fi is down, and there’s no signal for your phone. And no dial tone either, because landlines are as obsolete as chequebooks. Your solar inverter is fried, and your car’s display is a mess of warning lights. There’s no Uber or Amazon to fall back on, and what’s left in your scorched fridge won’t last long. Unless your neighbour has one of those old-fashioned petrol generators, or you have a bicycle, you’re stuck and in deep trouble.
It’s even worse in space. There’s no GPS, no Satphone, or TV or Starlink. Airlines are grounded, shipping is stalled, and banking is bust. Smart devices on the “internet of everything” are zombies. Drones are dead and cameras are kaput. Hospitals are helpless. It’s like the apocalypse finally arrived. Thankfully the National Guard still uses diesel trucks and reservists are out on the streets to prevent inevitable looting.
But spare a thought for those poor astronauts orbiting the moon in the Lunar Gateway outpost. They might as well be marooned on a desert island, with no way of knowing what’s happening back home. It could be weeks or even months before Nasa establishes radio comms, and mounts a rescue mission. Mind you, if they have enough supplies they should stay there — it’s better than the chaos down here.
I’d better post this article before my iPad dies, but how the heck am I going to do that?
- First published on Mindbullets September 23 2021
• Despite appearances to the contrary, Futureworld cannot and does not predict the future. The Mindbullets scenarios are fictitious and designed purely to explore possible futures and challenge and stimulate strategic thinking.
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