Last week, on the 10th of February, there was collision between two satellites. Apparently, this was the first major, unintentional collision in space involving a Russian satellite, which was no longer functional and a US owned, data communication satellite in full service at the time of the crash. This encounter, which happened over Siberia, produced debris, that could potentially pose danger to other objects that are in orbit around the Earth.Interestingly, while looking for more information about satellites and man-made objects in space, I stumbled upon a very fascinating article and was very surprised about the content. As seen on the picture, there are thousands of man made objects orbiting the Earth, some of them loose debris and junk. Few of the more unusual articles floating around are a camera, a glove and some numerous wrenches and screwdrivers, all lost by astronauts during space walks. Al the space junk put together would produce a weight of about 11 million pounds here on Earth. Amazing!
Overall, NASA is apparently tracking more than 500 pieces of debris, as the floating garbage might pose a threat to the International Space Station or complicate the shuttle launch.
8 comments:
Brightside: There may be some nice 'falling star' shows!
THAT'S where my glove went! I've been looking for that thing forever! I bet all my missing socks are up there, too. Damn. Now I'll never get them back.
What has become of my dream space?
You'd think we'd be satisfied with polluting our own space.. but nooooo! ;)
Sadly, my junk takes up too much space too. Darn gravity! :)
Wow, it's like a floating landfill, only a space-fill. We don't even have a grip on our trash problem on earth. Hope we get one in space.
Protege, thanks for the comment and following my blog. I've added you to my followers list too.
sallymandy
=J Cosmo, hehe, exactly; I wonder what will happen when all this junk falls out of orbit at one point. It will be some light show for sure:;))
=LOL Diane, you are hilarious.;)) Finally the missing socks enigma is solved, well done!;))
=Mahmud; my sentiments exactly.;))
=Hilary, yes, isn't it just sad? I thought at least we kept the space pristine, but oh no.
And I so know what kind of junk you mean, I have my share too.;))
=sallymandy; you nailed it: floating landfill or a spacefill! Very accurate.;)
You have a lovely blog, thank you for stopping by.;))
So, that's where all the missing socks from the dryer are!
LOL Mel, maybe one day, when they fall out of orbit, they will return to Earth.;))
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