Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Cleaning up space junk

Keeping an eye out for dangerous debris is a critical part of operating the international space station. A week ago, Russian controllers were ready to take evasive action when two pieces of junk loomed close. Further inspection indicated a move wasn't necessary at that point. This new threat is believed to be slightly more serious.

Controllers take a very few risks with the station - they move it if the chances of a collision are greater than one in 10,000. Earlier this year, astronauts had to take refuge in escape capsules, when a piece of debris from a satellite was detected too late to move the ISS. But the space junk missed by about 23 kilometres.

NASA tracks pieces of debris bigger than ten centimetres. Their numbers are estimated to have increased by...

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We often hear about environmental pollution here on Earth. It seems like we also need to consider how we are polluting space.

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