Space Junk Does Not Decompose
Posted on | September 3, 2009 | Comments Off
Junk in space is non-biodegradable.
“Debris (trash) from previous space missions can also damage spacecraft,” says NASA. Space debris is of such a concern that NASA established the Orbital Debris Program Office.
“The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office, located at the Johnson Space Center, is the lead NASA center for orbital debris research. It is recognized world-wide for its initiative in addressing orbital debris issues. The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office has taken the international lead in conducting measurements of the environment and in developing the technical consensus for adopting mitigation measures to protect users of the orbital environment. Work at the Center continues with developing an improved understanding of the orbital debris environment and measures that can be taken to control debris growth.”
The International Space Station has been hit before. Now, it is under watch, again, as space junk from the the Ariane 5 approaches.
Space debris is a growing problem with 19,000 objects larger than 10 centimeters currently being tracked. China’s destroyed a weather satellite in 2007. In 2009, there was a collision of American and Russian communications satellites.
Tags: hazardous > junk > NASA > non-biodegradable > space debris > space station > waste
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