CBC News has reported that an international aviation authority has issued a warning that toxic debris from a Russian rocket launch is slated to fall Saturday into Baffin Bay. The Bay is located outside of Canada’s territorial waters.
The rocket stage is expected to come down in what is called the North Water Polynya, an 85,000-square-kilometre area of Arctic sea that naturally remains ice free year round.
The open water is a refuge for narwhal, beluga, walrus and bowhead whales. Its plankton-rich waters draw shoals of Arctic cod, providing food for an ecosystem that also supports seals, polar bears and millions of seabirds.
The polynya — the largest in the Arctic — is hunted by Inuit from Canada and Greenland. It's also connected through ocean currents to Lancaster Sound, where the Canadian government is considering creation of a marine protected area.
Byers said little is known about how hydrazine reacts in water, especially when it is cold and ice-choked. Nor is there any information on how much unused hydrazine the rocket stage is likely to hit the water with.
CBC Radio expands on the Inuit concerns to their environment.
The Russian rocket is from the Soviet era, and Kuluguqtuq is concerned about its fuel, hydrazine — a highly unstable, toxic substance.
"Other than the literature available online, we don't know what hydrazine is capable of other than it's very dangerous and very toxic," says Kuluguqtuq.
The U.S. last used hydrazine as a launch propellant in its Titan missile program, which ended a decade ago.
Since humans began launching rockets into space in the 1950’s, orbital debris has been accumulating above the Earth’s atmosphere. Most debris falling to earth burns up in the atmosphere. This large piece Russian rocket will not do that according to the Weather Network.
The debris will come from a rocket set off by Russia's Rokot program, a company that launches commercial satellites. According to Michael Byers, professor of international law at the University of British Columbia, Russia is following protocols by alerting aviation authorities about the debris.
Visit this amazing link from Futurism.com for more information on space junk.
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