When I was a kid in the 1980s and 90s (1), a clear, moonless night meant you could stretch out on the grass and stare up at a sky full of stars. If you were lucky, maybe once every hour you'd spot a satellite silently gliding by. It was exciting back then, like seeing a rare bird.
Last night my wife and I were out in the hot tub, lights off, enjoying the stars - and I counted more than a dozen satellites in just a couple of minutes. They're everywhere now. Between Starlink constellations and all the space junk circling the planet, it feels like we're turning low Earth orbit into the next crowded highway.
It's amazing what we've built, but I can't help wondering if we've already gone a little too far. Are we causing a problem for future space explorers?
My wife has a cousin whose job it is, or was, to track the space debris. At the time I had never considered that such a job exists. Then, in 2007, China made matters worse. At least, with Starlink, there is utility in creating the debris. We may start seeing more articles like this.
Michael Johnson
@Reply 10 months ago
I remember in elementary school (early 80's) going over the list of satellites in orbit at the time and remembering that it was a short list.
Kevin Yip
@Reply 10 months ago
That's because the "space" in which we put our satellites is very limited space. If Earth were an Apple, our "space" would merely be the skin of the apple. Actual space is unimaginably vast. But our Low Earth Orbit and geostationary orbit (LEO and GEO) are tiny.
Sam Domino
@Reply 10 months ago
Richard In another Captain's Log you talked about how Star Trek foretold many of the appliances we now use. Maybe Salvage 1 (1979 TV show about a junk man building a space ship to retrieve equipment on the moon to sell) foretells future business opportunities. LOL!!!
Gary James
@Reply 10 months ago
Gary James
@Reply 10 months ago
Objects NASA is tracing in orbit around the earth
Gary James
@Reply 10 months ago
Here's a more detailed view of all the space junk. These are NASA generated videos of everything being tracked.
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/5258?form=MG0AV3
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