1The Messy Orbit Around Our Planet
When we think of outer space, we often imagine a pristine, empty vacuum, but the area just above Earth is actually getting quite cluttered! Over the last 60 years of space travel, humans have left behind a lot of stuff. This 'Cosmic Space Rubbish' includes everything from tiny frozen coolant droplets and flecks of paint to massive, dead satellites the size of school buses and discarded rocket stages. There are even a few weird items floating up there, like an astronaut's lost glove and a camera that floated away during a space walk! These objects don't just sit still; they stay in orbit for years, turning the space around Earth into a crowded highway.
2Moving Faster Than a Speeding Bullet
The real danger of space junk isn't just that it is 'trash'—it is how fast it moves. Because of gravity and the speed needed to stay in orbit, these pieces of debris zip around the planet at about 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometres per hour). That is ten times faster than a bullet! At that speed, even a tiny piece of metal the size of a marble can hit a working satellite with the force of a hand grenade. Scientists are particularly worried about the 'Kessler Syndrome,' a theory where one collision creates so much new debris that it causes a chain reaction, making it impossible for us to launch new rockets safely.
3Tracking Trash and Cleaning Up
So, how do we keep our brave astronauts on the International Space Station safe? Specialized teams, like the U.S. Space Surveillance Network, use giant radars to track over 27,000 pieces of junk that are larger than a softball. If a piece of rubbish gets too close, the space station actually has to fire its engines to move out of the way! Future scientists are already working on cool new inventions to clean up the orbit. Some ideas include using giant space nets to catch old satellites, using magnetic harpoons to reel them in, and even using high-powered lasers to push the trash down toward Earth so it can burn up harmlessly in our atmosphere like a shooting star.
