Space Junk
More than 500,000 pieces of debris, or “space junk,” are tracked as they orbit the Earth. They all travel at speeds up to 17,500 mph, fast enough for a relatively small piece of orbital debris to damage a satellite or a spacecraft.
The RemoveDEBRIS satellite was recently released from the International Space Station (ISS) to demonstrate space debris removal technologies. It is designed to capture debris with a net, sail or a harpoon. Once captured, the debris loses orbit and burns up harmlessly in the atmosphere.
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