Low-Earth orbit – home to satellites, spacecraft and the International Space Station – is full of debris.
In a series of tweets last week, space debris tracking companyLeoLabs laid out what happened.
“Too close for comfort,” LeoLabs tweeted.
A collision could have created thousands of new fragments.
More debris means more chances of future collisions in orbit.
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The ISS and functioning satellites and spacecraft stand a chance of moving out of the way of hazardous objects.
The ISS performs collision avoidance maneuvers as needed.
For example, itdodged a piece of Russian space junkin late 2022.
But defunct items like the rocket body and satellite can’t get out of each other’s way.
The close call is a stark reminder of how orbit is getting more crowded.
Researchers are investigating potential debris removal technologies, from agiant clawto aharpoon.
In the meantime, junk keeps piling up.
