Space Junk (2019) is a science fiction book written by Andrew Bixler. Bixler is from “the same hometown as The Beav,” United States (Bixler, Space Junk). His academic background is unknown. Bixler is known for his science fiction trilogy the Space Junk series and he incorporates modern humor into the style of his writing. After writing his first unpublished novel, Bixler felt “intellectually and emotionally” drained. He felt the need to write something “fun” in order to reinvigorate his “earnest” love for writing (Bixler, Space Junk). Space was something that Bixler had wanted to write about, and so the idea of Space Junk was conceived. He was also inspired by other sci-fi and horror authors and figures such as “Stephen King, Rod Serling, Douglass Adams. . . [and] Neal Stephenson” (Bixler, “Andrew Bixlerʼs Profile”). Bixler is a co-host of Big Orange Couch - The 90's Nickelodeon Podcast (Bixler, “About”).

Space Junk is a science fiction book that fits in the genre of adventure and thriller. The writing style is informal, humorous, and light-hearted. The main premise of the story is that Adam Jones, a space debris scrapper, has to undertake a crazy adventure in order to improve his poor financial situation. During his journey, he competes with other scavengers, such as the military of a galactic empire, over the valuables hidden amongst the space debris. The book received mixed reviews from readers, with most being positive. Those who loved it called it a “fun, phenomenal read” with “vivid character portrayals,” and compared it to classic lighthearted sci-fi novels such as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Goodreads). Other who disliked the book felt that the colloquial language spoken by the characters were off-putting, which “ruined” their interest in reading “before the story even got going” (Amazon). But most agreed that it is a fun read, and, for better or for worse, a crazy story.

Space Junk was published on November 23, 2019. It is unknown when the book was written. Assuming that Andrew Bixler had spent at least a year writing the book and was influenced by other science fiction work popular at the time, he likely drew inspiration from the popular movie Ready Player One (2018) which was based on the book of the same name — after all, Bixler said that for those who are fans of Ready Player One, Space Junk “might be just the book [theyʼve] been waiting for” (Goodreads). In terms of space debris, it has been amassing over the decades. A significant event related to space debris that happened in 2018 was that on July 2, 2018, the CryoSat-2 spacecraft from the European Space Agency had to be boosted “into a higher orbit” due to space debris “hurtling uncontrollably” toward the satellite (Witze).

Space Junk, as the title suggests, is directly related to the topic of my Civics (SSCE) Project which is space debris. The story takes place in a futuristic world where space debris is rampant and the main character is a Space Junk scrapper. In my civics project, I would like to investigate the technical aspect of space debris mitigation, as well as the political, and legal aspects. In Space Junk, militaries compete against one another over the valuables amongst space debris. As described by one reader, it is a “late capitalist hellscape” (Amazon). Some similarities can be drawn between the regulations of space debris in Space Junk and in real life. That is, there appears to be a lack of regulation, leading to disputes amongst governmental entities over the responsibility and ownership of space debris. A key theme of the book is the opportunity and competition that arises from conflict, and from the creation of space debris. In Space Junk, space debris gave rise to the profession of debris scrappers who removes and recycles space debris for money. Similarly, in real life, there has been a rise in commercial companies dedicated to the purpose of removing space debris and refueling satellites (which prevents them from becoming space debris). One such company is Astroscale, who launched their ELSA-d spacecraft and successfully demonstrated the technology that could be used for “space debris removal,” as well as “on-orbit servicing . . . [for] defunct satellites” (Howlett). The book provides an example of how such an industry could evolve into something that is sustainable and necessary. All considered, Space Junk is a good anecdotal story illustrating the inevitability of space debris and what the world will become if the problem of space debris is not properly resolved.

It should be noted that Space Junk and other books by Bixler are relatively new and obscure, so not much information about them can be found online. Due to its obscurity, no professional critic from a reliable source has reviewed the book. Reviews were taken from Amazon and Goodreads, from customers who had purchased and read the book. It is also why all the personal information about the author came from Bixler himself.