Friday, February 13, 2009

Litter in Space

Having dumped enormous amounts of plastic trash into the oceans, the inhabitants of Earth have made great strides toward trashing space.  This week, two satellites collided in a "catastrophic event."  
David Wright at the Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Security said the collision had possibly generated tens of thousands of particles larger than 1 centimeter (half an inch), any of which could significantly damage or even destroy a satellite.

Wright, in a posting on the group's Web site, said the two large debris clouds from Tuesday's crash will spread over time, forming a shell around Earth. He likened the debris to "a shotgun blast that threatens other satellites in the region."

This was kind of inevitable, but WTF, guys?

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