[Fitzcarraldo]

The elephant in this case is a NASA issue. Finding a space junk cause would be pure accident - creating plausible deniability.

I thought NORAD tracked everything down to wingnut-sized pieces (or smaller)?

[IamConservative]

Yes, I believe they do. In fact I have read in the past few days:

- NASA flies the shuttle backwards in orbit to protect the crew from a debirs strike.

- They have done delta V burns to slightly change the shuttle orbit to avoid junk.

- Columbia herself was once struck with a chip of paint and left a pock mark in the windshield.

Which leaves you to wonder how long it will even be safe to orbit the earth. This makes it sound like my neighbors yard. It is so messy, people are alwasy stopping because they think they are having a yard sale.. :)