Look out!

Posted on September 15, 2009 | 14 Comments

This is scary stuff. Look at all that space junk. I guess it’s a matter of resolution. But it must be quite a job keeping track of it all.

090912-space-junk-geo-02

Each dot represents a bit of known space junk that’s at least 4 inches (10 cm) orbiting Earth. Note the distinctive outer ring, known as a geostationary orbit, where weather and communication satellites orbit at the same rate that the Earth turns, allowing them to remain over a single spot on Earth at all times. The concentration of dots obscuring Earth in the center of the image represent debris in low-Earth orbit. In total, some 19,000 manmade objects this size or bigger orbit Earth as of July 2009; most are in low-Earth orbit. Countless smaller objects are also circling the planet. Credit: NASA/Orbital Debris Program Office.

via Image Display.

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14 responses to “Look out!”

  1. Andrew W | September 15, 2009 at 8:30 am |

    By my measurements, if each of those black dots was a sphere, it would represent a volume of about 15,000,000 cubic Km.

    Just saying..

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  2. Damian | September 15, 2009 at 9:24 am |

    Eh? Are you saying that if each object being a minimum of 10cm long was a sphere and all 19,000 were clumped together that you calculate a total minimum volume of 15,000,000km³?

    I get 99.5km³ (but I’ve never claimed to be any good at maths)

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  3. Andrew W | September 15, 2009 at 9:44 am |

    My maths, geosynchronous orbit is 84,000 km in diameter. on my screen thats 140 mm, or a scale of about 600 Km per mm.
    if each of those dots is 0.5 mm across on the screen, that represents a diameter of 300 Km.
    Volume of a sphere with a radius of 150 Km = 14,137,166 cubic Km.

    Just pointing out that the diagram is perhaps a little deceptive, space, even the little bit inside geosync orbit, is BIG.

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  4. Damian | September 15, 2009 at 9:58 am |

    Ah, I see what you are saying. The diagram would look pretty lame if all 10cm objects were to scale though eh? And, to be fair, Ken made a point of saying “I guess it’s a matter of resolution” for those of us with nothing better to do than measure illustrations on our computer screens with a ruler πŸ˜‰

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  5. Damian | September 15, 2009 at 10:01 am |

    Do you visit medical sites who display illustrations of human anatomy splayed out and leave comments like “oh yeah? there’s NO way someone would survive that!” πŸ˜‰

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  6. Andrew W | September 15, 2009 at 10:05 am |

    Thanks for that, by the way, your maths was our by a factor of about 10,000,000,000.
    πŸ˜‰

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  7. Andrew W | September 15, 2009 at 10:07 am |

    I’m off to have a sulk now.

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  8. Damian | September 15, 2009 at 10:12 am |

    Hey! My maths was based on each object being a minimum of 10cm long, spherical and all 19,000 clumped together in a ball. I make that 99.5km³ – what do you make it?

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  9. Andrew W | September 15, 2009 at 11:13 am |

    9.95 m^3

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  10. Ken | September 15, 2009 at 11:18 am |

    I think that’s more like it, Andrew. I get 19 m^3 if considering 19,000 items cube shaped and 10 cm sides.

    Some of the objects are much bigger, of course. Although I think the ISS has to maneuver to avoid even the small ones.

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  11. Damian | September 15, 2009 at 12:16 pm |

    Gah! Quite right. (although I was actually out by a factor of 10,000 which would make your factor of my factor out by a factor of 1,000,000). πŸ˜‰

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  12. Andrew W | September 15, 2009 at 12:24 pm |

    You still kicking Damian?

    There are 1000,000,000 mΒ³ in a kmΒ³

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  13. Damian | September 15, 2009 at 12:34 pm |

    Doh! I’ll get me coat.

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  14. Andrew W | September 15, 2009 at 12:36 pm |

    πŸ™‚

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