So happy to finally share this shot with you: a conjunction of the ISS and the moon. This shot required meticulous planning and precise timing to achieve, and the full image (in the second post in the thread) is one of my all-time favorites. CR:AM
In the middle of a space flight, an astronaut heard a massive bang. He looked up and saw a piece of space junk embedded in the window of the shuttle.
If the debris had been bigger, it could have blown out the window, and the crew would have all died, the astronaut told Joel C. Sercel, the founder and CEO of TransAstra.
The European Space Agency estimates over 330 million pieces of space debris are circling the Earth. Space debris can reach speeds up to 17,500 mph and pose a risk to astronauts, shuttles, and satellites.
TransAstra's Flytrap bags were initially developed to capture asteroids that, in the future, could be mined for rare elements.
Scientists using high-flying aircraft to sample the upper atmosphere have found metal elements in aerosol particles they say are from thousands of rocket boosters and satellites that have re-entered from space.
While rocket launches are increasing in frequency, the cumulative effect of this newly discovered form of pollution is u1
The Earth's atmosphere has been a dumping ground for derelict satellites, rocket boosters and even entire space stations since the beginning of the space age. According to data collected by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs the cumulative number of satellites launched into space since 1957 exceeds 14,000.
When a satellite reaches the end of its design lifetime, it either falls out of orbit or is driven down into the atmosphere for disposal to prevent it from becoming a hazard in the near-Earth space environment.
The atmosphere is a convenient garbage disposal system because objects in orbit are traveling at roughly 30,000 km/h, so except for the largest and most robust pieces of them, they are incinerated when they hit the air.
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But the metals those objects are made of are vapourized, and researchers have found that they can remain in the atmosphere for some time.
Sometimes in astronomy, a heavenly body has been virtually invisible until a single observer detects its presence and points it out to his colleagues, who then see it with increasing clarity. Perhaps a myriad of unknown senses are only awaiting our consciousness.
Putting this here before I go overboard with it lol. The only part of this that isn’t realistic is the fact that I’m scared of heights and would be crying in this poor bot’s hand. XD But ye! This was really fun to do, it felt nice to go back to my roots, haha. I hope you guys like it! 💙