NASA expert charts the orbital debris in our atmosphere and beyond

Nicholas Johnson, NASA’s chief scientist for orbital debris, spoke on the
history and present state of orbital debris policy. Orbital debris are
objects in space unintentionally left behind by human space exploration.
They are one of the key obstacles to the future of space endeavors because
of the risk they pose. Most are no bigger than a finger nail and by
travelling at speeds up to 5 miles/second they are a potent danger to any
man or man made object in space. Mr. Johnson recounts the history of orbital
debris policy and acknowledges that very little can be done about them with
present day technology. The militarization of space, most recently evidenced
by the Chinese destruction of a weather satellite, only exacerbate the
problem for future space travel and Mr. Johnson concludes his presentation
by highlighting the efforts of international organizations to better monitor
and prevent the spread of this phenomenon.

CategoriesUncategorized