Space Junk Study

A new study of the problem of spent rockets, dead satellites, and smaller bits of debris cluttering up orbital space around Earth suggests the problem may be at or near a critical phase. Even if no more junk was left in orbit, the stuff already there could be enough to initiate a cascade of crashes that in the worst case could render orbital space essentially useless.

The study calls on NASA to give the problem a higher priority and more resources. Of course, given the current fiscal problems of the U. S. Government, getting more resources for NASA may be about as difficult as solving the space junk problem itself.