This computer generated image, supplied by NASA, shows objects that are currently being tracked in Earth's orbit. Approximately 95% of the objects in this illustration are orbital debris, i.e., not functional satellites. The dots represent each item. The orbital debris dots are scaled according to the image size of the graphic to optimize their visibility and are not scaled to Earth. This image provides a good visualization of where the greatest orbital debris populations exist. The space shuttle Atlantis is flying at about 350 miles above Earth, an area littered with more dangerous space junk than the lower orbits where shuttles normally park at the international space station. (copied and pasted from Yahoo! news)
Wow, I guess I'd never really given space junk much though... but YEAH, were have all those old satellites, rocket debris, etc. gone?? Well, there ya have it. Oh yes, and did I mention this "junk" is flying at 20,000 mph?
0 comments:
Post a Comment