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**Itrtuawh** · 04-15-2008, 11:08 PM

Spacejunk in Earth's atmosphere revealed

By Paul Eccleston
Last Updated: 11:01am BST 15/04/2008

It's more than 50 years since Russia signalled the start of the space race with the launch of Sputnik One.

Computer-generated image of trackable objects currently in orbit around the Earth

For more than two decades from 1957 the Soviet Union and the USA competed in a battle to be the first to the stars.

The race ended in 1969 when the US delivered the coup de grace by landing Neil Armstrong safely on the Moon.

Now space flights are commonplace and Sir Richard Branson will soon be taking the first tourists on sub-orbital flights on his craft SpaceShipTwo.

In 1964 the first TV satellite was launched into a geostationary orbit in order to transmit the Olympic games from Tokyo.

Since then hundreds of communication satellites have been launched and Earth's atmosphere still bears the scars.

A European Space Agency (ESA) computer-generated picture shows a view from space with the planet surrounded by a snowstorm of space debris.

Much of it is junk with telecommunications equipment that once cost millions now past its sell-by date yet still in orbit.

ESA says the number of objects in Earth's atmosphere has risen steadily increasing by 200 per year on average and that there are now 600 working satellites.

Collisions, explosions and lost or discarded material from space flights and rockets has resulted in the atmosphere resembling a junk yard with potentially millions of pieces of metal travelling in permanent orbit 20,000 miles above the Earth.

Copyright 2008 The Daily Telegraph.

04-15-2008, 11:08 PM	#1
Itrtuawh Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 503 Senior Member	Spacejunk Spacejunk in Earth's atmosphere revealed By Paul Eccleston Last Updated: 11:01am BST 15/04/2008 It's more than 50 years since Russia signalled the start of the space race with the launch of Sputnik One. Computer-generated image of trackable objects currently in orbit around the Earth For more than two decades from 1957 the Soviet Union and the USA competed in a battle to be the first to the stars. The race ended in 1969 when the US delivered the coup de grace by landing Neil Armstrong safely on the Moon. Now space flights are commonplace and Sir Richard Branson will soon be taking the first tourists on sub-orbital flights on his craft SpaceShipTwo. In 1964 the first TV satellite was launched into a geostationary orbit in order to transmit the Olympic games from Tokyo. Since then hundreds of communication satellites have been launched and Earth's atmosphere still bears the scars. A European Space Agency (ESA) computer-generated picture shows a view from space with the planet surrounded by a snowstorm of space debris. Much of it is junk with telecommunications equipment that once cost millions now past its sell-by date yet still in orbit. ESA says the number of objects in Earth's atmosphere has risen steadily increasing by 200 per year on average and that there are now 600 working satellites. Collisions, explosions and lost or discarded material from space flights and rockets has resulted in the atmosphere resembling a junk yard with potentially millions of pieces of metal travelling in permanent orbit 20,000 miles above the Earth. Copyright 2008 The Daily Telegraph.
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