Not too long ago, a large piece of space junk fell out of orbit. Luckily it crashed into the Pacific Ocean. But as we put more and more satellites into orbit, all of which will come down someday, the odds of them striking a populated area grows. Not only that, but with so many different countries, agencies and corporations putting stuff up there, sooner or later two will collide.
A reporter for Scientific American asked an official about the problem. NASA and DOD told him that when a satellite decays and crashes to Earth, they have no way of knowing exactly where it will land. The article went on to say that such events are not rare, "Pieces of space junk, whether derelict spacecraft, rocket bodies or other mission by-products. fall from the sky more or less daily." The only effort to alleviate this hazard is a plan to engineer satellites and other orbiting space stuff with materials that will not survive the fiery descent through the atmosphere. Also they plan on causing the really large object to decay on track that will definitely cause them to crash into the ocean.
Nonetheless, I'm going to start wearing a helmet when I go outdoors.
Me too. But this stuff could come through your roof, man.
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