Space Debris Map
Space junk can be bad news for an orbiting satellite.
Space debris map. Space debris also known as space junk space pollution space waste space trash or space garbage is a term for defunct human made objects in space principally in earth orbit which no longer serve a useful function. These include derelict spacecraft nonfunctional spacecraft and abandoned launch vehicle stages mission related debris and particularly numerous in earth orbit. The information about debris objects smaller than 10 cm is based on a statistical model by esa.
On february 11 2009 a u s. See stuff in space on github. Communications satellite owned by a private company called iridium collided with a non functioning russian satellite.
This animation shows different types of space debris objects and different debris sizes in orbit around earth. Stuff in space is a realtime 3d map of objects in earth orbit visualized using webgl. For debris objects bigger than 10 cm the data come from the us space surveillance catalogue.
Get the latest updates on nasa missions watch nasa tv live and learn about our quest to reveal the unknown and benefit all humankind. See all the satellites and space junk circling earth in real time. More than 500 000 pieces of debris or space junk are tracked as they orbit the earth.
The nasa orbital debris program office located at the johnson space center is recognized world wide for its initiative in addressing orbital debris issues. A simple trip to stuffin space reveals an astounding map of the roughly 20 000 pieces of debris floating in space as well as information pertaining to its launch year velocity altitude and. The sporadic flux from naturally occurring meteoroids may only prevail over that from human made debris objects near sizes of 0 1 1 mm.
Makes your junk drawer look manageable in comparison.