Deja Vu is the Collisional Cascading of the Past with the Present
on February 13th, 2009The risk of collisional cascading is called Kessler’s Syndrome. When U.S. and Russian satellites collided in space this week, more than 600 bits of debris joined 18,000 other objects orbiting our planet. These artifacts, including rockets, satellites, bolts, screws, pieces of titanium and paint flecks, travel faster a bullet. They pose a danger to other space vehicles, including the International Space Station. Kessler’s Syndrome describes a situation where each collision causes more debris which causes more collisions, until it is unsafe for anything to orbit the earth.
Houston, We Have a Trash Problem (Wired Magazine)
Lottie Williams of Tulsa, Oklahoma reported that she was struck on the shoulder by space debris (Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies)
Space isn’t remote at all. It’s only an hour’s drive away if your car could go straight upwards.
Quotation from Sir Fred Hoyle
haha… love the Hoyle quote. and the picture at the top today….. where was it taken?
I’m faintly appalled that we’ve extended our junk into space.
Space junk?:-S Jesus Christ.
I heard about road, rail, sea and even about air accidents. And now we have space accidents too. So when are the traffic cops are going up there? Joking apart, this is really a matter of concern. Now, we’ll have scrap yard in space. What the hell are we upto???
Nurse Myra. The header photo was taken early one morning in San Jose, Costa Rica.
Chicken Little was really on to something, wasn’t he?
Lol! Lasers to get rid of space junk. That’s pretty stupid. Ya lets spend untold millions developing space lasers to clean up our orbit. I bet it was a politician who came up with that one. The biggest shock in all this is people are shocked. I mean where the hell did you think all that crap was gonna go?
‘Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down?
Thats not my department, says Wernher von Braun.’
Thank you, Tom Lehrer
Happy Valentines day, despite the debris!
The bad news is the cost to get rid of all the space derris garbage and increased risk (however small) to astronauts on space walks or closer to home the danger to Earthlings or animals being struck by falling objects.
The good news is (if the thought of your home being destroyed by a wayward space station or space junk keeps you awake at night) your insurance policy will probably cover the repairs or reinstatement since it’s usually already covered under the generic heading of cover specifically provided for any “falling objects”- unless they are classified as Acts of God.
Best wishes