Space junk
Half a million bits of space junk zip around earth at 25,000 km/h.NASA keeps track of space junk, "orbital debris" in fancy-talk, which is basically the litter that floats around the earth. The first ever bit of junk sent up there was Sputnik, other junk includes more inactive satellites, discarded fuel tanks from shuttle launches, and even a lost glove from a 1965 spacewalk. (NASA should have looked into "mitten-string technology") It's been adding up for half a century. They are tracking more than 19,000 objects larger than 10 cm, big enough to be seen on radar. They estimate another 500,000 smaller pieces, and another tens of millions of specs smaller than 1 cm, like chips of paint.
"Space junk" © by Carl Rolfe. All rights reserved. Copying and/or distributing this images without my written permission is strictly prohibited.
"Space junk" © by Carl Rolfe. All rights reserved. Copying and/or distributing this images without my written permission is strictly prohibited.