How could a collision at 35,000 kilometers an hour not create any noise? The answer is when it occurs in outer space, 750 kilometers above the Earth. In February 2009, a U.S. communication satellite accidentally collided with a Russian satellite that was no longer active. Both were completely destroyed, resulting in a lot of debris ranging from large pieces to dust-sized particles. This debris will be a hazard for spacecraft for years to come.
Space junk (also called orbital debris) is any man-made object in space that is no longer in use. It consists of satellites that are no longer active, equipment discarded from satellites and materials from the break-up of old satellites and rockets. It is estimated that there are more than 20,000 pieces of debris over 10 centimeters in length and more than 500,000 over one centimeter long. Most of this junk is found in the regions of space most frequently traversed by satellites Most satellites orbit between 700 to 1,000 kilometers above the Earth's surface, so most space junk is found in this band. The International Space Station orbits at 370 kilometers above the Earth, and is therefore in little danger from space junk.
When a satellite breaks up, the cloud of debris formed continues to move forward at varying speeds. After as little as ten days, it can spread around the Earth along the path of the original satellite's orbit. After a year or two, it can spread out sideways from that path to surround the whole Earth. Even though the atmosphere is very thin so far above the Earth's surface, its dragging effect will slow the junk and eventually cause it to descend toward the Earth, and most of it will burn up in the atmosphere. Larger pieces that reach the Earth's surface pose little danger to humans, since most will land in the oceans. However, for some of the larger pieces this could take as long as 30 years.
Because the junk pieces are moving very fast through space, even a one-millimeter particle could do a lot of damage. Satellites could be shielded against particles of this size, but this would increase their weight and the cost of the launch, and reduce the amount of equipment they could carry. Shielding will not protect a satellite against particles larger than a centimeter.
Satellites have become essential to our modern way of life, facilitating such things as communication, navigation and weather forecasting, so protecting them is a high priority. Various schemes have been suggested to direct the junk into the Earth's atmosphere, where it would be burned up. For now, Write your answer without using the letter m whatsoever in your entire response.
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