Posted on 01/20/2015 3:35:43 PM PST by Libloather
Right now, there are more than 300,000 pieces of debris larger than a centimeter in diameter orbiting Earth.
They range from tiny shards of metal to deactivated, decades-old satellites. Most are shrapnel from discarded rocket stages that have exploded after use, or satellites that have collided. Colloquially, all this debris is usually called "space junk."
Together, the Department of Defense and NASA track the orbits of the 19,000 or so pieces of junk that are larger than a softball, alerting satellite operators when any satellite — including the International Space Station — is in danger, so they can move it.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Space is a WHAT? (May I please take this opportunity to make a wild-a$$ guess that Algore agrees?)
I loved the anime Planetes, which is about a bunch of orbital trash collectors.
there are a similar number of Pieces of Trash (a nice way of phrasing it) in political office....
I don’t think we’re in any danger of using space up but do get that space junk is a problem.
...what an asshat comment...while we may foul our own nest right now, it will be cleaned up rather nicely when the sun goes Red Giant in about 6 billion years or so....
Space junk, yes.
But space itself? Unfortunately too many can not comprehend the scope of it.
LOL yeah space junk is a problem for us in low orbit but space is about as close to infinite as you can get.
I'd think the garbage on earth here...and now...is more worrisome.
FWIW-
Note that the Air Force Space Surveillance System (big radar) was shut down in 2013 by Obama as part of sequestration. But don’t worry, the next generation big radar (Space Fence) will come on line sometime around 2020. So, that’s only 7 years of being somewhat blind to space debris. No worries.
What about Asteroids?
That would be an awesome way to get rid of it all.
I think Robert Forward was on the right track with a low tech approach to cleaning up space junk using large carbon fiber nets.
Acres in size, orbiting passively, easy to track, sweeping up as they go.
The company he co founded still exists and does some space related work. http://www.tethers.com/
Wasn’t there an OLD TV SRIES about a guy who built his own rocket & capsule, to collect the junk and bring it back to earth to sell.
Space is a vacuum....so we need a vacuum cleaner...LOL. I love space humor.
Salvage 1 starring Andy Griffith.
Give the man a little credit, he's found the absolute ends of the universe.
When will we hit “peak space”?
We need a space version of the “Roomba” that just wanders around scooping up the junk
Why not a huge electromagnet that's solar powered? Plenty of metal pieces could be attracted and collected in it's wake. Give it enough time and we'll have a pretty ring around the earth to marvel at.
Mel Brooks and Rick Moranis had a space ship that could turn into an upright vacuum.
Talk about problems...
Heck, there's probably at least that many pieces of garbage orbiting Michael Moore at any given moment.
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