Ciekawostka: 2,000 pounds of space dust and other space debris fall on the Earth every day

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station in low Earth orbit (LEO). It is the product of the International Space Station program and is operated by five partner space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan), and CSA (Canada). It is the first space station built, maintained and crewed through international cooperation and the largest human spacecraft ever constructed. It is an orbital research station, where scientific experiments in microgravity are conducted and the space environment is studied. Since 2 November 2000, it has hosted the longest continuous human presence in space. Alongside China's Tiangong, it is one of two currently ope…

Evidence: 45 • authority: 72

The Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth. It orbits Earth in an elliptical path, at a distance that varies over the year, averaging around 378,000 kilometers (235,000 mi). It completes an orbit (lunar month) in relation to Earth and the Sun (synodically) every 29.5 days. The Moon and Earth are bound by gravitational attraction, which is stronger on the sides facing each other. The resulting tidal forces are the main driver of Earth's tides, and have pulled the Moon to always face Earth with the same near side. This tidal locking effectively synchronizes the Moon's rotation period (lunar day) to its orbital period (lunar month). In geophysical terms, the Moon is a planetary-mass objec…

Evidence: 36 • authority: 92

Space-Based Observations of Plasma Waves During Conjunctions Between Host Sensors and Space Objects.. This study describes exploratory, in-situ experimentation to measure Very Low Frequency (VLF) plasma waves (1-35 kHz) at times when a space physics satellite equipped with a radio plasma wave receiver conjuncts with other space objects. The objective was to learn if a secondary space object's rapid passage near another satellite is detectable. If so, this would offer a new avenue to infer the presence of space debris in Earth orbit. Space objects in Earth's ionosphere develop a region of ion density rarefactions in the wake of their orbital motion which could serve as the basis for object d…

Evidence: 36 • authority: 80

Hypervelocity impacts in low earth orbit: Cosmic dust versus space debris

Evidence: 36 • authority: 80

Space dust and debris near the Earth

Evidence: 27 • authority: 80

Real-time 3D Maps of Space Debris Orbiting Earth

Evidence: 27 • authority: 92

Orbital biomanufacturing: the key to space resiliency, operational persistence, and ethical sustainability.. Space-based biomanufacturing has historically focused on long-duration crewed and exploration missions, but its greater potential lies in supporting in-space logistics, manufacturing, and servicing in Earth orbit. This article provides a strategic perspective on how shifting investments, policy, and R&D to orbital biomanufacturing could revolutionize defense, commercial, and civil sectors by enhancing supply chain resiliency, operational flexibility, ethical debris management, and commercial viability in Earth orbit.. Authors: Younger AK.. Journal: NPJ microgravity. Year: 2026

Evidence: 27 • authority: 72

The Kessler syndrome, also known as the Kessler effect, collisional cascading, or ablation cascade, is a scenario proposed by NASA scientists Donald J. Kessler and Burton G. Cour-Palais in 1978. It describes a situation in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO) becomes so high due to space pollution that collisions between these objects cascade, exponentially increasing the amount of space debris over time. This proliferation of debris poses significant risks to satellites, space missions, and the International Space Station, potentially rendering certain orbital regions unusable and threatening the sustainability of space activities for many generations. In 2009, Kessler wro…

Evidence: 27 • authority: 80

Wait, Detect and Collide Strategy for Small Space Debris Removal in Low Earth Orbits

Evidence: 27 • authority: 92

RETRACTED: A 12,800-year-old layer with cometary dust, microspherules, and platinum anomaly recorded in multiple cores from Baffin Bay.. The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) posits that ~12,800 years ago Earth encountered the debris stream of a disintegrating comet, triggering hemisphere-wide airbursts, atmospheric dust loading, and the deposition of a distinctive suite of extraterrestrial (ET) impact proxies at the Younger Dryas Boundary (YDB). Until now, evidence supporting this hypothesis has come only from terrestrial sediment and ice-core records. Here we report the first discovery of similar impact-related proxies in ocean sediments from four marine cores in Baffin Bay that span…

Evidence: 27 • authority: 92

Toward "Safe" Chemicals and Materials on Mars: Knowledge Gaps for Expanding Planetary Protection Requirements.. The United Nations Outer Space Treaty states that the exploration of celestial bodies must avoid "harmful contamination" which may impede scientific exploration by other parties to the treaty. To guide treaty compliance, Planetary Protection regulations promulgated by the Committee on Space Research set limits for microbial contamination of celestial bodies, particularly those that may harbor extant life (e.g., Mars). However, anthropogenically introduced chemicals and materials are not regulated but may cause "harmful contamination" and thus pose a potential threat to scientific…

Evidence: 27 • authority: 72

Human presence in space (also anthropogenic presence in space or humanity in space) is the direct and mediated presence or telepresence of humans in outer space, and in an extended sense across space including astronomical objects. Human presence in space, particularly through mediation, can take many forms from space debris, uncrewed spacecraft, artificial satellites, space observatories, crewed spacecraft, art in space, to human outposts in outer space such as space stations. While human presence in space, particularly its continuation and permanence can be a goal in itself, human presence can have a range of purposes and modes from space exploration, commercial use of space to extraterre…