Space around the earth is being transformed in a vast cosmic tip. There are more than 3 millions of flying pieces which represent a serious danger for shuttle flights, for "MIR" station or for future space-base "FREEDOM" but also for satellites that are put on orbit for telecommunications. In 1983 "CHALLANGER" shuttle fully hit a small paint fragment that damaged the porthole glass.
If this fragments would ever hit an astronaut, on a mission out of the cab, would kill him. The heap of rubble that is storing up in the space increases at such a speed that we could be imprisoned on the earth, by this flying tip in the course of 30-50 years, if the cosmic pollution will go on in this way.

To human flights security in the space and a good working of satellites (particular military ones) the Americans inspect the bigger pieces
of this flying "rubbish". Us space command is following at the moment 7000 objects that are situated in lower orbits. A serious aspect not very well known is the presence, among these rubble of satellites with atomic fuel on board.
A big part of those dangerous fragments would enter in the atmosphere.
Recently some events have attracted the attention on the problem. The space shuttle had to perform some evasive manoeuvres not to approach too much to abandoned objects.
On 24th July 1996 happened the first collision, documented between an operative satellite and
a big rubble.

Little French military satellite (called "cerise") has been hit, at the speed of 14,77 km per second, by a fragment big as a medium suitcase! With available technologies economically practice methods to remove a significant fraction of rubble don't exist. The ESA thinks that United Nations should play a part more important in the space pollution, a problem which has not known yet.

© 1998 Freeway
Writers: Katia Peluso and Jasmine Mustajbasic
HTML by: Jani Koskela (nv00-96@park.se).