In the past couple of years we've been made aware of the growing problem of space debris orbiting the Earth. While this presents serious problems for craft launching into space; another side of the problem is rearing it's ugly head this weekend.
A low orbiting toxic waste container from the ISS (International Space Station) was "flipped" into a low orbit which has decayed to a point whee it will enter the atmosphere this Sunday. Scientist expect the re-entry to reduce the receptacle into 15 pieces weighing from 14 oz to 40 pounds when it lands.
While it's true that the grand majority of the planet is either covered with water or is uninhabited by humans one may think; so what, the odds are low.
I gain some comfort from that thought; but it doesn't erase the fact that what will hit is EXTREMELY TOXIC. That's not good for anything in the water or anything on land. They aren't really sure where it's going to land either.
Beyond all the obvious things I've pointed out; I do have one concern that isn't mentioned is that often times; toxic items can be utilized for weaponry if not directly, then by introducing a new substance to a country whose military will learn by its chemical makeup how to take a further step in chemical warfare.
The last thing is mere speculation on my part; but I don't think the idea is stranger than fiction.
The article is very interesting. You can read it here.
Share your point of view regarding this after reading the article. Am I way off?
6 comments:
Well that sucks.... Don't we have a missile that can take that thing down? So this think is going to most likely land in the water and destroy and eco system? Where are the laser beams man?
Actually, this time (and I don't know why) they cannot shoot it with a missile.
They are being fairly overt saying if you think you've come upon any of the wreckage to have the good sense to get away from it ASAP and call the authorities. This was a major FUBAR on their part.
Don't we have a shuttle on stand by to pick this type of crap up?
Well, see, that's what caused the whole hing... the Space Shuttle went up to replace the toxic 1400 pound container. The Space Shuttle couldn't securely bring the toxic thing back to earth for proper disposal; the solution? flick it out away from our orbit after removal. The thing got flicked by the Shuttles robotic arm operated by an astronaut who flicked it the wrong way.... OOPS!!!!
I've checked online; the 1,400-pound (635-kg) tank of toxic ammonia coolant is still yet to land...
Head's up!
Well, the current (I won't say final) word on this from officials (get this) from the Space Department - not NASA (I shit you not)is the 15 pieces of varying sized highly toxic waste went down somewhere between Australia and New Zealand. (How close a call was that?!)
Anyways, by my figuring; somewhere down there in all the strange volcanic islands in the South Pacific lies Monster Island. So, any time now, Godzilla should rear his mighty head; swim to Japan, and lay waste to Sony.
I'll keep an eye out on this for ya.
(If that doesn't happen; some three headed fish or death of the local ecosystem should occur to some level... I bet Peter Jackson loves us right now... If he'd only waited a few years; he could have used the real King Kong!)
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