Space trash will circle the Earth and is a danger to future satellitesWe have enough garbage right here in our own country known as one of the biggest polluters in the world. Every year we fill enough garbage trucks to form a line that would stretch from Earth all the way to the Moon. We even have our own landfills right here in Lake Worth. Now, we are literally polluting outer space and Scientists fear that any vehicle in our upper atmosphere is in danger of being hit by debris caused by, you guessed it, us.
I just heard on TV recently that the Great Wall of China can be seen from outer space. Well the other thing that can be seen is the Fresh Kills Landfill. Anyone from the New York area has heard of this. This site, consisting of 2,200 acres and regarded as the largest man-made structure on Earth, was closed in 2001 but then re-opened temporarily after 9-11 to accept the debris from the Towers. It was 25 plus yards taller than the Statute of Liberty which is 151 feet tall. It is now being transformed into a Park, one of the most ambitious projects in the world that will take 30 years to complete.
Two satellites crashed into each other this week 491 miles above the Earth (one Russian and one American) and now both those satellites are nothing but fragments. As all these millions of contaminants hit each other, they cause smaller fragments cluttering up the atmosphere making it extremely dangerous for other satellites to be launched without them being in grave danger. Right now there are anywhere from 600 to 800 satellites orbiting the Earth. A satellite launch can cost anywhere from $50 million to $400 million from weather satellites to those that take inventory on what’s happening on earth.
Space trashPollution is now so out of control that it is literally out of this world.
