I found this article in National Geographic talking about space trash. No kidding. As if things weren't bad enough on Earth in terms of trash, it turns out we've now created the same problem in space. Good job guys.
And if you're thinking "Well, really, how big of deal can it possibly be?" than let me tell you this: last year, two satellites crashed into one another over Siberia, scattering about two thousand large pieces of debris over the atmosphere. So, um, yeah, bad stuff happens when you treat Earth's orbit like a hoarder's living room.
Here's the good news:
NASA and the Department of Defense held a conference to figure out what to do. The UN has passed some ideas, including draining fuel out of satellites to prevent explosions. There's been some ideas knocked around to fix the problem. Most of them sound like they came from sci-fi novels, including one where they want to put a massive foam ball in orbit that would sweep up debris. Honestly, the idea wasn't well explained in the article. I'm still confused about what the heck they meant by it.
The bad news:
Earlier this year, China used their old satellites for target practice, sending lots more little bits about. Scientists estimate that for the next fifty years, we'll see a collision every five years. For those of you not into math, that's ten collisions.
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