In 2016, European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake shared a photo of a quarter-inch dent gouged into a glass window of the International Space Station (ISS). The culprit? A tiny fleck of space junk.
The piece of debris, perhaps a paint flake or a metal fragment from a satellite, was only a few thousandths of a millimeter across — not much bigger than a single cell of E. coli.
But how can something so small cause visible damage?
“It all comes down to velocity,” said Vishnu Reddy, an astronomer at the University of Arizona. Objects at the altitude of the ISS and most other satellites — around 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth — revolve around our planet once every 90 minutes, according to the European Space Agency. That’s more than 15,600 mph (25,200 km/h), 10 times the speed of an average bullet shot on Earth, Robert Frost, an instructor and flight controller at NASA, wrote on Quora.
The energy of an impact isn’t just related to the size of an object; velocity (speed and direction) are equally important. That’s why a small bullet can cause so much damage; when moving at a high enough velocity, any object could be dangerous, Reddy told Live Science.
Keep in mind that velocity is additive, said Kerri Cahoy, an associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. So, if two objects are moving toward one another when they collide, that increases the energy of their impact.
“Think of it like driving on a highway,” Cahoy told Live Science. Two fast-moving cars moving in the same direction could touch and just “barely kiss one another,” she said. But if a vehicle — even a lightweight one, like a motorcycle — hits a car while speeding in the opposite direction, it could be disastrous for both drivers.
Likewise, in space, a fast-moving fleck of paint that collides with the ISS can leave a relatively big mark.
When a fleck of space junk collided with the International Space Station, ESA astronaut Tim Peake snapped a photo of the resulting gouge mark. (Image credit: ESA/NASA)
In space, satellites, spacecraft and debris orbit along many different paths; while one object might orbit horizontally around the equator, another might loop vertically around the poles. Some objects even move “in retrograde,” meaning they rotate counter to the Earth’s orbit. As more and more debris clutters space, Earth’s low orbit (in which the ISS rotates) turns into a packed highway at rush hour. “There can be the potential for a lot of damage,” Cahoy told Live Science.
The astronauts onboard the ISS were lucky that a larger piece of debris didn’t hit their window. A microbe-size fragment may leave only a dent, but a pea-size fragment can disable critical flight systems, according to the European Space Agency. A piece of debris the size of a ping-pong ball? “That would be catastrophic,” Reddy said. At that size, space junk could cause the space station to rapidly depressurize, making it impossible for astronauts to breathe onboard, Reddy said.
Space junk is a growing problem. Earth’s orbit contains at least 128 million pieces of debris, and 34,000 of them are larger than about 4 inches (10 centimeters), according to the Natural History Museum in London — and those are just the fragments that are large enough to detect. These smaller pieces form when satellites naturally weather under extreme ultraviolet radiation, when larger pieces of space debris collide or when satellites are intentionally destroyed. Larger pieces include 3,000 derelict satellites, as well as bolts and other parts shed by spacecraft during launches.
By tracking space junk, scientists can tell countries and companies when to maneuver a spacecraft out of the path of a speeding piece of debris, Reddy said. The ISS has performed 25 of these maneuvers since 1999, according to the Natural History Museum. And researchers are developing ways to fish junk out of space, such as using hooks, nets and magnets to pull it back into Earth’s atmosphere.
Too much space junk could make it dangerous for humans to use Earth’s orbit for satellites and other types of spacecraft. We’re nowhere near that point now, but it’s important to get ahead of the space junk problem to prevent further accumulation, Reddy said.
“We rely on space for so many things: communication, forecasting weather, banking, entertainment and military,” he said. “In terms of our progression as a civilization, we would go many steps backward if we did not have access to space.”
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
