THEsun has set. There are no clouds in the sky. Appreciatively, you stare at the night sky, gazing at the magnificent constellations and observing the bright phases of the moon, getting lost in the breathtaking beauty of the night. As you observe, you notice an object, blinking and slowly moving across the night sky. Slowly, you realize that most of the tiny, bright lights in the sky are blinking and moving slowly across the sky. At first you are shocked, confused, is this some form of an anomaly, or special occurrence?
Then you remember you exist in the 21st century. Human satellites orbit the sky. Random pieces of shrapnel whiz around at expeditious rates. Computers monitor and track these pieces, ready to deliver an avoidance maneuver at a moments notice. Hundreds of thousands of pieces are currently stuck in Earths orbit, often moving at speeds up to twenty times faster than a bullet.
All these tiny pieces plus defunct satellites make up a collection of
The majority of orbital debris is in low Earth orbit (LEO), the region within 1,200 miles.
Photo courtesy of NASA Orbital Debris Program Office
what is known as “orbital debris”. Ever since humans first made their mark in outer-space through Sputnik 1, space trash has been amassing over time. Now that countries and private companies can send satellites into orbit with very few restrictions, the amount of trash doesn’t look like it’s going to get any smaller.
These satellites could be as big as football field or as small as a phone, either way, they will eventually add to the ever-growing population of orbital debris.