US Space monitors have stated that parts of Russian rocket have re-entered the atmosphere are showering western US with space debris.
Till now no damage has been reported and the debris is not considered to be hazardous.
Space debris is not a new thing as more than 200 pieces of space debris re-enter our atmosphere annually. But we also have to consider the fact that all of the space debris cannot reach the earth as the re-entry stage is enough to burn it.
The main problem with the space debris is not that they can cause any damage on our planet but this debris is continuously polluting the space. The debris includes old rockets, nuts, bolts and mostly all the left over material that the astronauts carry along to space. These materials also travel at high speeds and they also provide a danger for the orbiting satellites and the ISS itself.
This debris is traveling at such high speeds that they can blast a hole through the space suit of an astronaut and also create a hole through the bones of the astronauts.
NASA is working on the scenario. But till now all the astronauts are told to just open the window and throw the debris in space. NASA is also helpless on the scenario as there are safety issues in bringing the debris back to earth.
Russian Cosmonaut, Mikhail Tyurin has also added new debris that is a golf ball in space. I hope it does not hit anyone or anything there because if it hits ISS (though that is impossible) the force will be equivalent to that of a 22 ton truck traveling at 111 miles per hour.
NASA has to consider all the facts and should come up with a space junk dump truck kind of a solution so that we do not endanger our satellites and our astronauts. Moreover if the space junk exceeds the permissible level then we might have to think of a different route to get to other planets of interest.
Via: ninemsn
