A Dizzying Visualization of Earth's Orbital Debris

VIDEOS A Dizzying Visualization of Earth's Orbital Debris A mysterious object expected to make a fiery reentry on November 13 is far from the only piece of space garbage zooming above us. JOHN METCALFE @citycalfe Nov 2, 2015 Comments Share on FacebookTweet A hunk of manmade debris is expected to make a fiery entrance through the atmosphere on Friday, November 13, and NOAA is using it as an opportunity to remind folks of all the crud circling above our heads. (The object, called WT1190F, will likely disintegrate before it hits the Indian Ocean.) The threat isn’t just from big stuff, either; low-earth orbit is littered with hundreds of thousands of fragments that could pepper operational spacecraft. Writes NOAA: For some, it is these smaller, unknown, and untracked objects that pose the biggest threat, for they can damage a satellite or a spacecraft, including manned missions such as the International Space Station. (See this detailed account from NASA of a close encounter between a piece of space debris and NOAA-NASA's Suomi NPP satellite in October 2014.) Although the amount of space debris is not constant, it generally increases every year, sometimes generated from debris collisions, which can potentially create additional debris fragments. One terrifying, albeit hypothetical, scenario known as the Kessler syndrome posits that, should the density of objects in low earth orbit become high enough, collisions between objects could cascade, thereby increasing the likelihood of additional collisions and, ultimately, rendering the use of satellites and other space activities unfeasible. Yikes. (People who watched the 2013 movie Gravity will recall a particularly violent illustration of the Kessler syndrome.) If a spacecraft hits debris coming from the opposite direction, the roughly 22,370 mph-impact would be much stronger. In such an event, a pea-sized bit of garbage would smash into a surface like a “bowling ball moving at 300 miles per hour,” says NASA. The resulting jolt might puncture a hull as well as release a blinding energy flash, as shown in this test of a 17,000-mph projectile at one of the space agency’s ballistic ranges: NASA On the plus side, the objects we can track fall back to the planet at a rate of about one a day. Most are incinerated in the atmosphere or plop into sparsely populated areas and the sea. In some cases, operators can even steer decrepit satellites into deep-sea zones known as “spacecraft cemeteries.” One of these in the Pacific holds an astonishing 160-some relics, including the European Space Agency’s Jules Verne craft, whose spectacular 2008 reentry was captured on video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-ZDF1KilXc The ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle Re-enters Earth's Atmosphere Gizmodo Gizmodo Subscribed21,571 Add to Share More 82,690 views 95 3 This video is unlisted. Be considerate and think twice before sharing. ShareEmbedEmail https://youtu.be/m-ZDF1KilXc Start at: 0:45 Uploaded on May 8, 2015 Footage courtesy of NASA http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/mult... Read more: http://gizmodo.com/this-watery-gravey... We come from the future. https://gizmodo.com Category Science & Technology License Standard YouTube License SHOW LESS COMMENTS • 6 Oscar del Rosario Add a public comment... Top comments Crus Alexanderson Crus Alexanderson1 year ago Transformers is Real Reply 1 Cruzan Cxx Cruzan Cxx1 year ago Spectacular!!!! Reply 1 77flyright 77flyright1 year ago THERE IS NO OUTER SPACE !!!! WATCH NASA AND THE FLAT EARTH ON SCRAWNY TO BRAWNY CHANNEL.... Reply RADIOACTIV RADIOACTIV1 year ago +77flyright Your brain is flat too. Reply 1 whoami whoami1 year ago Song name anyone? Reply Sonu Chauhan Sonu Chauhan1 year ago imagine these meteor showers coming from outer space may have roamed around other planets with living species on it and now they are on earth _ Reply #RumoAPMESP #RumoAPMESP1 year ago so beauty Reply 1:01 George's boyhood heroes Adby OMEGA 933,770 views × AIM Global Japan Training By sir John Asperin March 26, 2017 Robinson Ortega Recommended for youNEW 55:30 Michelle Go AIM Global Japan Training March 27, 2017 Robinson Ortega Recommended for youNEW 23:13 How to Make a Living on YouTube in 2017 Justin Bryant Recommended for youNEW 23:46 Nitric Oxide Supplements: Do They Work? UltimateFatBurner.com Recommended for you 8:40 Banned TEDTalk about Psychic Abilities | Russell Targ metaRising Recommended for you 32:22 12,980 - AIM Global Marketing Plan Presentation OPP 2017 Robinson Ortega Recommended for you 26:25 Forbbiden Pictures Revealed Saudi Arabia Mt. 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Image Credit: NASA Orbital Debris Program Office at JSC Category Science & Technology License Standard YouTube License SHOW LESS COMMENTS • 27 Oscar del Rosario Add a public comment... Top comments Jason Roll Jason Roll1 year ago looks like we treat space the same way we treat our planet Reply 7 Jose Benitez Jose Benitez1 year ago NASA truly is a branch of Hollywood... Reply 4 Brandon Obaza Brandon Obaza1 month ago Jose Benitez History Channel already has a show in the works on collecting space junk called "Astro Pickers" Reply ZadokNiya ZadokNiya2 years ago I think it is about time the space fearing nations puts a plan in place to clean this scrap up Reply 2 Slamz Dunk Slamz Dunk2 years ago How much sunlight does all that block out? Reply 2 View all 3 replies Slamz Dunk Slamz Dunk2 years ago Must be LoL Reply Cynic limbu Cynic limbu2 years ago But you're right, they do block sun's light, tiny amount of it. Reply GodBlessHipHop GodBlessHipHop4 months ago Humans.. smh Reply 2 cn 250 cn 2501 year ago wanna see garbage, check out the northern Pacific garbage pile. bigger than Texas. Reply 1 glashio glashio2 years ago Wall-E Reply 2 Talking Tree Talking Tree2 years ago damn, it doesn't look pretty. Reply 1 AutomotiveElites AutomotiveElites3 weeks ago the scale makes it look much worse :) Reply MrFloppy MrFloppy1 month ago (edited) What if all that junk creates a thin layer of shadows that affects the temperature on our planet and creature manmade climate change? O_O Reply SteveXII SteveXII1 month ago NEIL DEGRASSE AND ROGAN LOLOL Reply Juana Gil Juana Gil1 month ago I didin 't do Reply Juana Gil Juana Gil1 month ago Wow!! It's posible that you can not believe it !! Reply Ève Meunier Ève Meunier1 month ago I ask myself a question that may sound strange at first sight but which, I think, should be asked (if not already done). Because of their metallic and chemical constitution, can these debris damage our magnetic field? Can they harm our atmosphere? Je me pose une question qui peut avoir l'air étrange à première vue mais qui, je pense, doit être posée (Si ce n'est pas déjà fait). À cause de leur constitution métallique et chimique, est-ce que ces débris peuvent nuire à notre champ magnétique? Est-ce qu'ils peuvent nuire à notre atmosphère? Read more Reply Omar Ibn Lynn Ibn Samual Marchant Omar Ibn Lynn Ibn Samual Marchant8 months ago metal recycling in space? what would it take to make stock metal parts in orbit from orbital debris? Reply LockAce LockAce1 year ago PlanetES Reply 1 HG Wells HG Wells2 years ago Awfully misleading. If you go to NASA's site they describe most of these things as <1cm^3 or smaller such as paint chips yet they are represented on this animation as being larger than NYC. Most if not all of the debris makes it way to the atmosphere and burns up... according to NASA. Not sure why they are dramatizing this... maybe because Allah lives on the moon? Read more Reply Willoughby Krenzteinburg Willoughby Krenzteinburg2 years ago (edited) The purpose of this video is to give a visualization of the space debris. If the debris was represented to scale, then it would look no different than any other picture of the Earth from space - you wouldn't see anything - and that would kind of defeat the purpose of the video, don't you think? Your objection is the same thing as claiming that according to world road maps, roads are 15 miles wide. Well - they are road maps. The WHOLE POINT of road maps is to give a visual representation of ROADS, so of course the roads are not going to be to scale. The same thing applies here. The WHOLE POINT is to give a visual representation of space debris. Read more Reply 3 Walter Sobchak Walter Sobchak2 years ago I saw the space station!!!! Reply Dino Citraro Dino Citraro2 years ago Is there an HD version of this? Reply 1 Qlimex Qlimex2 years ago HD dont work in space NASA said :DDDDD Reply emsie76 emsie761 year ago +Qlimex well discovery and rover are in space. On Mars with hd cameras. Reply Pete Pete2 years ago Would be cool to see one of these, but with all active satellites instead. 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