Environment
A Dizzying Visualization of Earth's Orbital Debris
A mysterious object expected to make a fiery reentry on November 13 is far from the only piece of space garbage zooming above us.
Perhaps there’s no better way to give first-time astronauts the heebie-jeebies than to show them the immense garbage field they’ll be drifting through. The U.S. government tracks more than 19,000 old satellites, hulking rocket bodies, and unknown detritus zipping around earth at about 17,000 mph—a chaotic racecourse well represented in this dizzying NASA visualization.