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View of the International Space Station
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/international-space-station.jpgAstronauts aboard the International Space Station were forced to take shelter Tuesday morning when some unidentified space junk came alarmingly close to floating into their path. The station’s crew faced a similar risk in March 2009 after being warned of a possible collision with a tiny piece of an old rocket motor. In both cases, the drifting trash passed by without incident. (Credit: NASA)
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Computer-Generated Image of Objects in Orbit Being Tracked by NASA
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/space-debris-map.jpgSpace debris poses a growing threat to astronauts, orbiting spacecraft and people on the ground. As a result of human space exploration, earth’s orbit is now swarming with defunct satellites, used rocket boosters, items inadvertently dropped by astronauts and the perilous fragments—many smaller than a grain of sand—released when these floating objects collide at high speeds. (Credit: NASA)
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Vanguard 1
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/vanguard-1.jpgThe oldest example of space debris is Vanguard 1, a solar-powered satellite launched in March 1958. Communication with the small aluminum sphere, which was used to examine the orbit and atmosphere, was lost in May 1964. Launched five months after Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, it has remained in orbit longer than any other manmade object. (Credit: NASA)
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Inspection of Crashed PAM-D Module in Saudi Arabia
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/pam-d-module.jpgAccording to NASA, one non-functional spacecraft, launch vehicle or other piece of debris has fallen back to earth every day for more than 40 years. While most of the hurtling litter disintegrates upon reentry, some substantial pieces have been found. In 2001, for example, the titanium motor casing of a PAM-D rocket booster landed in Saudi Arabia. (Credit: NASA)
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Rendering of Collision Between Space Debris and France’s Cerise Satellite
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/cerise.jpgThe first verified collision between orbiting objects occurred in 1996, when debris from an exploded rocket crippled an operational French military reconnaissance satellite. (Credit: CNES)
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Map of Chinese Satellite Debris Circling Earth in February 2007
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/fengyun-1-debris.jpgThe largest space debris-producing event in history occurred on January 11, 2007, when China tested an anti-satellite missile by intentionally destroying an aging Chinese satellite. More than 2,300 fragments the size of a golf ball or larger were thrust into orbit. In April of this year, a piece of junk from the test came uncomfortably close to the International Space Station, though the crew ultimately did not have to evacuate. (Credit: NASA)
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Iridium 33 Satellite
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/iridium-33.jpgIn February 2009, the defunct Russian satellite Cosmos 2251 and the operational American satellite Iridium 33 hurtled into each other at 17,500 miles per hour. The crash created a massive cloud of debris—more than 1,000 fragments that continue to orbit the globe—and destroyed both satellites. (Credit: NASA)
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Debris From a Solid Rocket Motor
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/srm-debris.jpgEven tiny pieces of space junk can inflict serious damage on spacecraft and satellites, threatening the lives of the astronauts flying, operating or repairing them. According to the Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies, a fragment of metal debris the size of a tennis ball is as lethal as 25 sticks of dynamite. (Credit: NASA)
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Damage Caused by Space Debris to Shuttle Window
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/sts7-window-crack.jpgWhen manned spacecraft are in orbit, experts on the ground closely monitor the trajectories of any nearby space debris. The soon-to-be-retired space shuttle, for example, is maneuvered out of harm’s way whenever the chance of a dangerous collision exceeds one in 10,000. This only happens once or twice a year, according to NASA. Space shuttles have taken hits from minuscule fragments, which are too small to be tracked, numerous times during the program’s 30-year history. (Credit: NASA)
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Tool Bag Floats Away During Spacewalk
http://www.history.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/lost-tool-bag.jpgExtremely vulnerable to the dangers of space debris, astronauts are sometimes responsible for adding to the orbit’s expanding swirl of rubbish. Items lost during space missions have included cameras, tools, a glove and a toothbrush. In 2008, a toolkit worth $100,000 slipped out of an astronaut’s grasp and drifted away during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Nine months later, the mislaid bag burned up upon reentering the earth’s atmosphere. (Credit: NASA)
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