Space Waste & Debris: The Biggest Problem We Can’t See
On October 4th, 1957 the then Soviet Union (USSR) successfully launched its Sputnik 1 satellite into the Earth’s orbit. While the spherical Soviet satellite wasn’t threatening to look at (weighing a mere 184 pounds and measuring a slim 23 inches wide), its small beeping signal heard back on Earth resonated throughout the United States and was viewed as a massive threat. As it turns out, that tiny beep ignited the already simmering space race and effectively forced both countries to push their limits of innovation and technical ability to the breaking point in an effort to reach a nonexistent finish line. October 4th, 1957 was also the day that many stargazers tracked a faintly shining object as it sped around the Earth at 17,500 miles per hour. Many thought that they were looking at Sputnik 1 but in reality, they were seeing the detached rocket body that propelled it into orbit. While Sputnik 1 was roughly the size of a large beach ball, its rocket body was nearly 85 feet long a
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