Space Junk
As if there wasn't enough space junk to keep track of...
NASA Art
Two satellites - a US based Iridium orbiter weighing 1,235 pounds and a decommissioned Soviet Kosmos-2251 military communications satellite weighing nearly a ton - collided 500 miles above the earth's surface, sending thousands of variously sized shards flying in random directions at over 660 feet per second. Portions of the debris are deemed a possible threat to the Hubble Space Telescope and other satellites.Lovely...
Space collision between Russian, US satellites threatens other satellites
posted by Dr. Know at 3:24 PM
4 Comments:
Hopefully it all falls in the Pacific. Even space is getting over crowded.
Any debris headed towards earth would likely incinerate before reaching the surface but if not, I'm with you. Skylab certainly wasn't so cooperative. As for the miscellaneous orbital stuff in space, it isn't so much the volume you have to worry about, but the velocity. Ouch.
You probably know this, Robert, but nuts, bolts, washers, rocks, etc. are tracked via computer RDBMS. It's beginning to resemble a hazardous, orbital landfill.
It's not enough for us to just trash this planet, in our quest to conquer power, and display superior intelligence, we must put trash where no man has put trash before!
Are you familiar with the Galaxy song?
Hoping for intelligent life elsewhere, cause there's bugger down here on earth!
I think you've coined a phrase here.. Orbital landfill
Yes, I'm familiar with Monty Python's ode to the human condition. And Capt. Kirk as well.
As Agent Smith of the Matrix points out, we are a virus.
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