JUST above Earth's surface is a disc of space debris hurtling through space at speeds high enough to do more than rattle the International Space Station.<\/p>\n
Earth's orbit is becoming so cluttered with man-made and natural objects it could restrict space travel in the future.<\/p>\n
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Nasaand the United StatesSpace Forcehave a network of sensors scanning the sky and keeping tabs on all27,000 pieces of space larger than 10 centimeters.<\/p>\n
Objects in Earth's orbit travel at about 15,000 miles per hour - fast enough that if a small piece collided with a satellite or space ship it could do serious damage.<\/p>\n
A Blue Origin engineer posted an image of an aluminum block that was nearly pulverized when a piece of space debris weighing less than an ounce collided with its broadside while in orbit.<\/p>\n
CNET reported that the International Space Station (ISS) has to engage in about one evasive maneuver per year to avoid collisions with space junk.<\/p>\n
Scientists have considered the threat that space trash poses to life on Earth and to our dreams of traveling in space.<\/p>\n
TheKessler Syndromeis a theory that Earth's orbit will become so crowded that debris will just keep colliding, creating a field of space trash thick enough that we're forced to ground space travel. <\/p>\n
Elon Musk, one of space travel's loudest proponents, has added more than 2,500 Starlink satellites to the disc of space debris gathering around Earth.<\/p>\n
SpaceX plans to add up to 42,000 satellites to lower Earth orbit, much to the disappointment of astronomers.<\/p>\n
China has tested a military satellite whose purpose is to clean up space junk - Space.com reported that because of the military nature of the mission, many details were kept under wraps.<\/p>\n
But eagle-eyed stargazers found that the Shijan-21 satellite ferried another satellite to a safe distance of 3,000 kilometers away from Earth in a space junk \"graveyard\".<\/p>\n
Many of the space travel and space operations planned for the 21st century are in the hands of private companies instead of public agencies.<\/p>\n
In the future, private companies may need to be held accountable for space litter, which is currently unregulated.<\/p>\n
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Inside horrifying world of 15,000mph space debris that can blow holes in ISS and even TRAP us on Ear... - The US Sun<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" JUST above Earth's surface is a disc of space debris hurtling through space at speeds high enough to do more than rattle the International Space Station. Earth's orbit is becoming so cluttered with man-made and natural objects it could restrict space travel in the future. 2 2 Nasaand the United StatesSpace Forcehave a network of sensors scanning the sky and keeping tabs on all27,000 pieces of space larger than 10 centimeters Continue reading