Space Harpoon Successfully Snatches Floating Hunk of Space Junk
A small satellite has captured a piece of space debris using a claw-tipped harpoon. The test represents an important…
So, About the Satellite That's About to Crash Into Earth...
I love clicks as much as the next online journalist. I love that there is an uncertain thing happening, with infinite…
Here Is FEMA’s Plan If the Falling Chinese Satellite Takes Aim at a US City
China’s defunct space station Tiangong-1 will soon plummet toward Earth, likely this weekend. You will almost certainly…
Can Gecko Feet Help Us Clean Up Space Junk?
There’s a crapload of debris orbiting our planet and potentially posing a hazard to our astronauts and our satellites.…
This Is the Last Thing You Want to See When Looking Out the ISS Window
This quarter-inch diameter chip was photographed by British astronaut Tim Peake from inside the Cupola module of the…
Watch 60 Years of Space Junk Accumulate Around Earth
You think the trash problem in your city is bad? Try outer space. We humans have been littering our cosmic backyard…
The Quest to Design a Satellite That Destroys Itself When the Mission Ends
Satellites are built to endure decades in the most inhospitable conditions in the known universe. Paradoxically,…
The "Mysterious Object on a Collision Course With Earth" Is a 7-Foot Long Hollow Rocket Body
You may be surprised to learn that a “mysterious object dubbed ‘WT1190F’” is headed directly for Earth. THIS IS TRUE.…
The ISS Astronauts Had To Shelter From Russian Space Junk This Morning
About two hours ago—at about 8AM EST this morning—a piece of an old Russian-built weather satellite sped by the…
What Was the Huge Flash of Light Over the Southeast U.S. Last Night?
Something lit up the sky over a whole swath of the lower Eastern states last night, catching eyes all the way from…
Scientists Propose a Laser for the ISS to Vaporize Space Junk
Millions of pieces of space junk, big and small, are constantly circling the Earth. This intractable problem has…
Why We Need a Better Way to Kill Satellites
2,465. That’s the number of satellites that are whipping gracefully around the Earth as you read this.
A Tax On Smartphones Could Help Pay For The Removal Of Space Debris
So far, governments have opted to deal with the problem of space junk by implementing policies to reduce the creation…
The Earth Is Surrounded By A Great Swirling Vortex Of Trash
Just what are all those tiny, swirling dots swooping gracefully around the Earth? Are those pinprick points the ghosts…
Here's What Our Space Junk Looks Like After It's Crashed Back To Earth
What goes up toward space can come crashing down again—in the plains of Texas and the deserts of Saudi Arabia, through…
How will we retrieve dead satellites in the future?
Hint: It probably won't involve astronauts.
Japan's Launching a Giant Net Into Orbit to Scoop Up Space Junk
Something must be done to deal with the estimated 100 million bits of man-made space junk circling the planet, and…
A Startling Image That Shows Why Space Junk is a Nightmare
If you saw the movie Gravity, then you know that space debris can be deadly. Some scientists warn that the crud in…
Falling Soon Through a Sky Near You
It's what the New York Times calls "the latest in a parade of spacecraft falling from the sky": the imminent crash of…
How to Clean Up Deadly Space Junk Before Disaster Strikes
Hit film Gravity offers a hyper-realistic portrait of life in space, including the possibility that an avalanche of…