Relevance of this problem is quite obvious. Flights to Earth orbit helped us a true picture of the surface of the Earth, many of the planets, the Earth's crust and ocean space. They gave a new view of the Earth as the source of life and the understanding that man and nature are an integral whole. Space has provided a real opportunity to address important economic purposes: to improve international communication, long term weather forecasting, development of maritime and aviation navigation.
However, the space left and great potential. In the view of many scientists, space technology can help in solving the global energy challenges by creating a space-based devices and solar energy, as well as through the stem in space too energy-intensive industries. Space opens up significant opportunities to build global geophysical information system, which can be used to develop a model of the Earth and the general theory of processes occurring on its surface, the atmosphere and the near space. There are many other attractive areas of applications of space exploration.
A number of reputable space scientists are advocating immediate "inhabiting the space. The argument they recall that our planet's existence threatens many asteroids and comets, dodging around the Earth.
An important part of the global problem of space exploration is the availability in the near-Earth space debris and satellites raketnositelej, threatening not only the space missions, but also if they fall to the ground, its inhabitants. So far international law providing for the free use of outer space by all States, does not regulate the issue of space debris.
As a result, "low" orbit (between 150 and 2000 km), which are monitoring the Earth and geostationary (36 OOO km) used for telecommunications, reminiscent of the original "space trash". Primarily responsible for the United States of America, for which (in 1994) the number 2676 items, Russia (2359) and Western Europe, though to a lesser extent (500).
One way to cleanse Earth orbits is translated into "sidings" used rockets and satellites. Technically possible and their return to Earth, but at this stage, such operations are excluded because of their high cost. Sooner or later all space objects themselves are returned to Earth. In the past several wrecks of American and Russian spaceships fall on our planet, luckily there were no casualties. (There are cases requiring the affected countries of the financial accounts of the owners of wrecks.) Finally, there is a development of especially strong shields to protect new spacecraft from different troubles in case of collision with flying objects.
The problem of space exploration