{"id":330333,"date":"2025-12-04T12:29:41","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T12:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/aerospace\/the-astronomical-problem-of-space-junk\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T12:29:41","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T12:29:41","slug":"the-astronomical-problem-of-space-junk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333","title":{"rendered":"The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"\">\n<header class=\"article-header\">\n<h2 class=\"tagline article-tagline\" itemprop=\"description\">Chunks of satellites and pieces of debris falling from space are causing trouble down here on Earth<\/h2>\n<div class=\"article-line\">\n<section class=\"author-box by-line single-author\">\n<div class=\"author-headshot science-nature\">\n          <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com\/FPwU1yCRg5gmFNEk2ePEVKPpKek=\/fit-in\/160x80\/filters:no_upscale()\/https:\/\/tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/accounts\/headshot\/adsheadshotcolor-edit.png\" alt=\"Ari Daniel\" class=\"headshot\"\/>\n        <\/div>\n<div class=\"author-text\">\n<p class=\"author\" itemprop=\"author\">\n<p>          <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/author\/ari-daniel\/\">Ari Daniel<\/a><\/p>\n<p>            &#8211; <span class=\"author-short-bio\">Host, &#8220;There&#8217;s More to That&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>      <time class=\"pub-date\" itemprop=\"datePublished\" data-pubdate=\"Dec. 4, 2025, 7 a.m.\">December 4, 2025 7:00 a.m.<\/time><\/p><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<figure class=\"article-image lead-article-image\">\n<picture class=\"responsive-image\"><source media=\"(max-width: 600px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com\/FKFEIHeLhuhQqzbhSH9ydVPfGLg=\/600x400\/filters:no_upscale():focal(1000x671:1001x672)\/https:\/\/tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/filer_public\/19\/5e\/195ea217-0388-4882-8538-88201b96f1f3\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com\/gMckPZERocJ2x9qgHPOnQAoCdK4=\/768x512\/filters:no_upscale():focal(1000x671:1001x672)\/https:\/\/tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/filer_public\/19\/5e\/195ea217-0388-4882-8538-88201b96f1f3\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 1000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com\/gMckPZERocJ2x9qgHPOnQAoCdK4=\/768x512\/filters:no_upscale():focal(1000x671:1001x672)\/https:\/\/tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/filer_public\/19\/5e\/195ea217-0388-4882-8538-88201b96f1f3\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg, https:\/\/th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com\/UX2Tjc8iZW3ndsVp-RbLZJqi4x8=\/1026x684\/filters:no_upscale():focal(1000x671:1001x672)\/https:\/\/tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/filer_public\/19\/5e\/195ea217-0388-4882-8538-88201b96f1f3\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg 2x\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com\/UX2Tjc8iZW3ndsVp-RbLZJqi4x8=\/1026x684\/filters:no_upscale():focal(1000x671:1001x672)\/https:\/\/tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/filer_public\/19\/5e\/195ea217-0388-4882-8538-88201b96f1f3\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg\" width=\"1026\" height=\"684\" alt=\"Smithmag-Podcast-S04-Ep18-Space Junk-article.jpg\" itemprop=\"image\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>\n            <\/picture><figcaption class=\"caption\">\n<p>              <span class=\"credit\">Illustration by Emily Lankiewicz \/ Images by Samantha Lawler \/ NASA \/ smspsy via Adobe Stock and public domain<\/span><br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\n    <iframe loading=\"lazy\" allow=\"monetization\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/play.prx.org\/e?ge=prx_3987_11ba7750-03bb-4ddb-a75b-afa002b59d7e&amp;uf=https%3A%2F%2Fpublicfeeds.net%2Ff%2F3987%2Ffeed-rss.xml\" style=\"min-width: 300px;\" width=\"100%\"><\/iframe>\n  <\/p>\n<p><em>We have launched all manner of satellite and machinery into low-Earth orbit. But what goes up must come down. Most often, these items burn up in the atmosphere upon re-entry, which isn\u2019t good for air quality or the ozone layer.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>But not everything incinerates \u2014 and increasing amounts of debris are hurtling back toward Earth and landing in backyards and farm fields. Falling detritus disrupts air travel and risks collision with infrastructure and people on the ground. There are those who argue that additional regulation is required around the launching and de-orbiting of these materials.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>In this episode, host Ari Daniel speaks with astronomer <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/campioncollege.ca\/resources\/dr-samantha-lawler\/\"><em>Samantha Lawler<\/em><\/a><em> and <\/em>Smithsonian<em> contributing writer <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/author\/dan-falk\/\"><em>Dan Falk<\/em><\/a><em> about <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/science-nature\/with-space-junk-on-the-rise-is-a-catastrophic-event-inevitable-180986907\/\"><em>space junk<\/em><\/a><em> and the concern among researchers that it is becoming a growing threat to public safety.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>A transcript is below. To subscribe to \u201cThere\u2019s More to That,\u201d and to listen to past episodes about <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/why-are-there-so-many-shipwrecks-in-the-great-lakes-180987720\/\"><em>all the shipwrecks hidden beneath the waters of the Great Lakes<\/em><\/a>;<em> <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/science-nature\/birds-bats-and-bugs-the-teeming-world-above-our-heads-180987559\/\"><em>the river of birds, bats and bugs fluttering, often invisibly, in the skies above<\/em><\/a>;<em> and <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/arts-culture\/how-superman-became-a-character-for-the-ages-180986954\/\"><em>the story behind the timelessness of Superman<\/em><\/a><em>, find us on <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/theres-more-to-that\/id1694965155?ign-itscg=30200&amp;ign-itsct=podcast_box_player\"><em>Apple Podcasts<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/4NYRCRxkYJTLjW71sqYOFv?si=08fa62c3e59d450f&amp;nd=1\"><em>Spotify<\/em><\/a><em>, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.iheart.com\/\"><em>iHeartRadio<\/em><\/a><em> or wherever you get your podcasts.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>Ari Daniel:<\/strong> When Samantha Lawler opened her inbox last spring, she found a rather unusual message waiting for her.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Samantha Lawler:<\/strong> I initially got an email from a local reporter just saying, \u201cHey, this farmer thinks he found space debris. Do you think it\u2019s space debris?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Samantha lives in rural Saskatchewan and works as an astronomer at the University of Regina, but even so, this was an odd inquiry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> My first response was, \u201cIt\u2019s not space debris. He just found some junk in his field. There\u2019s no way it\u2019s space debris. What are the odds?\u201d And then I saw a picture of it. I\u2019m like, \u201cOh, no, that\u2019s actually space debris. Oh no, what do I do now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Wait, what was the picture you saw and what made you think space debris?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> Yeah, so I saw a picture of the farmer standing next to this very large piece of debris, right? So, it\u2019s maybe about the size and shape of the hood of a semi-truck, right? A really big, oddly shaped piece that\u2019s got lots of fraying, carbon fiber and melted metal. And it looked exactly like pieces of SpaceX debris that fell in Australia a couple of years ago. So that was what made me realize this is not a crazy farmer. He knows what he is talking about. So yeah, this is now my problem, oh no!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> To understand what had landed in this farmer\u2019s field, I wonder whether you\u2019ve ever experienced something like this. You\u2019re looking up at the night sky, admiring the stars and planets, when all of a sudden, the little dot of light you\u2019re admiring starts to move. Maybe then you notice more start to move, maybe in a line higher than an airplane, slower than a shooting star. These meandering twinkles are, more often than not, satellites in low-Earth orbit just outside our atmosphere. Increasingly, companies like SpaceX are sending up large quantities of these satellites to provide high-speed internet all over the globe.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> I got so many UFO calls in 2020 and 2021 when they were first launching because it looks completely freaky. They\u2019re on a lower altitude orbit, and they\u2019re very close together. So when they first launch, it just looks like a line moving across the sky. The first time I saw one\u2014I study this, and I know exactly what I\u2019m seeing\u2014and it still looks like a UFO.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> But what experts like Samantha say is even more alarming is that what goes up must come down. That is, these satellites that get sent up into space eventually make their way back to Earth\u2014thousands of new satellites mixed in with older chunks of rockets and bits of other human-made material, all circling about in low-Earth orbit. And now Samantha and her colleagues think we have a real problem on our hands as this stuff returns to Earth, and not just in rural Canada.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> It\u2019s falling everywhere, but we\u2019re finding it here, which is really scary. This is the indicator that something is very wrong with how we are using space.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> From <em>Smithsonian <\/em>magazine and PRX Productions, this is \u201cThere\u2019s More to That,\u201d the show that transmits stories about science, culture and history from around the galaxy. I\u2019m Ari Daniel. In this episode, space junk\u2014why it\u2019s become a big problem and what we can do about it. Plus, wait till you hear what happened with that fragment of space junk the Canadian farmer found in his field. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>Dan Falk:<\/strong> Space junk broadly refers to stuff that\u2019s in space that was put there by humans, and that is no longer doing what it was initially meant to be doing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Dan Falk is a science journalist who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/science-nature\/with-space-junk-on-the-rise-is-a-catastrophic-event-inevitable-180986907\/\">interviewed Samantha<\/a> for a story for <em>Smithsonian <\/em>magazine.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> So, if a satellite is no longer functioning, or it\u2019s already been smashed into bits by collision with another satellite, or some bit fell off a rocket as the rocket was going up, all those things are types of space junk.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Space is vast. Our galaxy alone is 100,000 light-years across, and with everything we\u2019ve sent up there, there\u2019s a lot of junk floating around.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk: <\/strong>It\u2019s the stuff in low-Earth orbit that we\u2019re most concerned about, and low-Earth orbit is by far the area that is the most crowded.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Low-Earth orbit is the stretch of space as high as 1,200 miles immediately above the Earth\u2019s surface.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> There\u2019s a lot of stuff orbiting the Earth in low-Earth orbit. Some bits of junk date back to the Cold War, whether it\u2019s communication satellites or spy satellites or whatever stuff going back 40, 50, probably even 60 years, in some cases. So there is some stuff that\u2019s been up there for a while.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> It\u2019s remarkable to think about there being a technological archive up there going back decades. So, if you could swim through this debris field, you\u2019d find contents from the \u201960s, \u201970s, \u201980s through the present.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s fascinating. Yes, if you were a museum archivist and you went up there with a really big butterfly net, you could catch all these bits of rather old technology and then put them in your museum. I think that would be absolutely fascinating.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> So, we\u2019ve got this stuff that\u2019s in low-Earth orbit, but at some point it can dislodge and start screaming toward the Earth. So, can you explain what the conditions are that set that up, and how often is that happening?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> Well, you can imagine you\u2019ve got a satellite orbiting nicely. Everything\u2019s very stable. And then it gets hit by some other object, another satellite. Now you\u2019ve got multiple objects no longer moving on the original orbit in which they were intended. So some of them can reach lower altitudes. They\u2019ll start to interact more with the Earth\u2019s atmosphere. The Earth\u2019s atmosphere extends upward and then it never officially ends, but it becomes less and less dense. So if you\u2019re orbiting at a high enough altitude, it\u2019s like there\u2019s no atmosphere at all. But as soon as these objects move to lower altitude, they are impacted by the Earth\u2019s atmosphere, they slow down, they start to burn up, and some of them will hit the ground.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Many companies, including SpaceX, rely on these atmospheric burns to take care of the debris. But as objects from space burst through and catch on fire, they create additional hazards to us here on Earth.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> There are a lot of reasons why we don\u2019t really want to use the Earth\u2019s atmosphere as a big incinerator. Burning up metal objects in the Earth\u2019s atmosphere\u2014and it\u2019s not just metal, it\u2019s a variety of materials\u2014but it\u2019s not really great. It increases air pollution and it can also damage the ozone layer. And then just in general, you don\u2019t want little bits of aluminum, aluminum oxide and little bits of metal or rubber or insulators or plastics; I mean, there\u2019s no reason you would want more of that in the atmosphere, right? Absolutely no reason.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> And then if these objects don\u2019t burn up completely in the atmosphere, well, that\u2019s another problem.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> Now, it\u2019s very unlikely to hit you personally as you\u2019re standing in your backyard. But collectively there\u2019s about eight billion of us. So it is possible that one day it actually will hit someone. But a lot of other things can also happen. For example, the threat to commercial aviation. So, we\u2019ve already had instances where airliners have been rerouted. There was an incident not that long ago where airspace over Spain or France was closed, not for a long period of time, but briefly closed because of the threat of debris re-entering the Earth\u2019s atmosphere. We might be seeing more of that. These are things that airlines and the whole industry is going to have to think about. So yeah, there are a number of ways that it could impact us although, as I say, the chances of you personally getting hit on the head when you\u2019re tending to the garden is small, but collectively, this is a significant risk.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> And Dan, why is it increasing? Is it just cause there\u2019s more and more of this debris up there?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> Yes, that\u2019s the main factor. There\u2019s more and more satellites going up. So, the total numbers of stuff in low-Earth orbit, it\u2019s a much higher figure now than it would\u2019ve been, say, five years ago, and certainly a lot more than it would\u2019ve been 10 or 15 years ago.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> While SpaceX didn\u2019t respond to Dan\u2019s request for an interview for his story, other companies are also sending similar internet-relaying, short-lived satellites into low-Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> I believe Amazon has its own, and there\u2019s Chinese operators, I believe, now. So it\u2019s a new and growing trend.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> How does space junk endanger astronauts that perhaps are on the International Space Station or elsewhere? In your article, you talked about the astronauts on the International Space Station managing to dodge space junk, and I\u2019d love to hear more about that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> Yes, apparently there have been at least two, possibly three incidents where the space station had to do some very slight maneuver because they had a warning of debris falling through their orbit, falling through where they were about to be if they didn\u2019t do a slight rerouting. So this is really quite amazing to think about.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> So they just kicked off a thruster or something?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> Yes, I believe so. That would just be a disaster if it hit the International Space Station. So, fingers crossed that such a thing doesn\u2019t occur.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Once Samantha Lawler saw the photo of the farmer standing by that pile of hulking debris, she got in touch with an expert named <a href=\"https:\/\/planet4589.org\/jcm\/index.html\">Jonathan McDowell<\/a> at the Center for Astrophysics, a joint institution Smithsonian shares with Harvard. McDowell maintains a civilian database of orbital launches and re-entries.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> So, I just emailed him and said, \u201cHey, is there anything that fell over Saskatchewan in the last few months?\u201d So, this is late April, farmers are getting out into their fields for the first time. There\u2019s been snow on the ground for the last seven months because it\u2019s Saskatchewan. And he immediately responded. He\u2019s like, \u201cOh yeah. It was a SpaceX Crew Dragon Trunk Axiom Three Mission fell on February 26th.\u201d He sent me a picture of \u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> My goodness.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> \u2026 the orbit. He just immediately knew what it was.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> And he knows because he\u2019s tracking the entry of space debris?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> Yeah, he keeps track of everything that\u2019s getting launched, everything that\u2019s coming back in.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Samantha cross-referenced this information with what she\u2019d learned from the farmer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> He was very clever about the whole thing. He found this giant piece of charred metal in the middle of one of his fields. He knew it couldn\u2019t be a plane crash because he would\u2019ve heard about that. So the only other thing it could be had to be space debris. And then he googled parts numbers on the piece and found, like, \u201cOh, yep, this is from space!\u201d So he knew exactly what he was talking about. But it took a while before any journalists believed him. This particular piece is the cargo trunk from the Crew Dragon Mission. So, this is an example of an uncontrolled re-entry that is supposed to burn up completely in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> The Crew Dragon is a SpaceX ferry that handles private space flights and also shuttles astronauts to the International Space Station.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> It\u2019s like this big cylinder that is attached to the part the astronauts sit in. And then when the astronauts are ready to go home, it detaches, and this trunk, they don\u2019t need it anymore. So they just eject it, and it just lands somewhere. It eventually burns up in the atmosphere, except it didn\u2019t burn up in the atmosphere. It left very large pieces scattered across many miles of farmland. And many other of this particular type of spacecraft have done the same thing. This particular spacecraft is not burning up completely as it has been advertised to, which makes me very worried, because there\u2019s a lot of other spacecraft and satellites and rocket parts that it\u2019s the same idea. Like, \u201cOh, it\u2019ll just burn up, don\u2019t worry about it. And if it doesn\u2019t burn up, it probably won\u2019t hit anybody.\u201d But there\u2019s so much that\u2019s being launched now that that mentality is not okay anymore. More and more debris is landing on the ground, in particular, Starlink.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Starlink is the name of SpaceX\u2019s high-speed satellite-powered internet service.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> Starlink de-orbited 500 satellites in the six-month period between December and May of this year.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> My goodness.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> And they\u2019re not small satellites, they\u2019re car-size to truck-size. They are big.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> And when you say de-orbited, you mean they brought them from orbit down into the atmosphere?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> So, the end-of-life plan for everything in low-Earth orbit just will get burned up in Earth\u2019s atmosphere. That is the entire end-of-life plan. So what burns up in the atmosphere gets deposited as pollution, and that\u2019s a huge problem. But what doesn\u2019t burn up will hit the ground, and that is also a huge problem. So this is not a great way of dealing with orbit, but this is current standard practice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> How fast does this stuff fall from the sky?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> When it hits the top of the atmosphere, it\u2019s going at orbital speed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> That\u2019s 7.8 kilometers per second, or about 17,500 miles per hour.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> But it very quickly decelerates because of friction with the atmosphere. It looks like a really big, messy shooting star as pieces fall through the atmosphere as they\u2019re burning. And so by the time the pieces hit the ground, they\u2019re going at terminal velocity. It\u2019s something like 120 mph. And the pieces that I saw were huge. There was that one giant spike piece that was like an 80-pound, eight-foot tall spike. That was scary. Was it tumbling? Was it spinning? Just thinking about that falling into the snow in the middle of the night is terrifying.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> The Crew Dragon fuselage isn\u2019t the only piece of SpaceX debris that Samantha and her farmer neighbors have found in Saskatchewan. They\u2019ve also seen chunks of Starlink satellites.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> Right. So, the Starlink piece, a farmer found it on his lentils. The Starlink piece was very small. It was like the size of a laptop. It was just sitting on top of his growing lentils. So clearly it came from somewhere up above. Nobody that I talked to actually saw the pieces fall. The re-entry was detected by someone\u2019s meteor camera, like, hundreds of kilometers away. And so it started its re-entry there, and the pieces ended up all the way past Calgary, past Regina, and landed to the northeast of Regina, Saskatchewan. And nobody noticed the pieces falling because it\u2019s in a very sparsely populated area. One of the farmers I talked to, one of the pieces did fall fairly close to his house, but he didn\u2019t notice it until everything started melting in the springtime. So freaky, right? It\u2019s close enough to me to be distressing, but right next to your house? Wild stuff.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> So to be clear, the reason that you\u2019re finding more of this stuff in Saskatchewan isn\u2019t because Saskatchewan is geographically \u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> Targeted.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> &#8230; unique. It\u2019s just that topographically, it\u2019s flat, so you can see it easier. But Saskatchewan\u2019s not receiving more of it than other places.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> So, if you look at a map, if you just take a snapshot of where all the satellites are over the surface of the Earth right now, most of the satellites that are in orbit have a tilt to their orbit relative to the equator. So they have a tilted circle. If you took that circle and unfolded it\u2019s like a sine curve, this squiggle up and down across the surface of the Earth. And so imagine putting lots and lots of those squiggles down. It\u2019s going to be denser right where the squiggle turns around, so at the highest latitude and the lowest latitude. And right here in southern Saskatchewan happens to be right underneath that highest latitude. So there is a little bit more likelihood that we\u2019re going to get stuff falling on us just because everything spends more time over us. If you look up into the sky, the density of satellites is more right here. But that\u2019s true of everything along this latitude.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Incidentally, Starlink has become an important resource for some of the community there in Saskatchewan in the very place where its pieces are falling.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> It\u2019s a huge game-changer for people who don\u2019t have good internet access. I live in a rural place, my neighbors use Starlink because there aren\u2019t \u2026<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Much to your chagrin.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> &#8230; very many good options here. I understand why people are doing it, especially if you work from home. If you want to talk to your family in a different place, it is amazing to have fast internet to talk to them. But there are other ways to do that. Investing in rural fiber is really important, and nobody\u2019s doing that.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> As for the Dragon Crew piece, about a month after Samantha first learned of it, she got a call from the farmer who found it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> Eventually, what happened was SpaceX got in contact with the farmer directly. And SpaceX said, \u201cHey, we\u2019re going to come to your farm. We\u2019re going to come pick up the pieces. We\u2019ll give you small compensation for finding and storing our debris for us, and we\u2019re just going to take it away.\u201d So the farmer invited me to come watch.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Which is how Samantha found herself standing out in the field with a bunch of journalists as two SpaceX employees showed up in what she observed to be a rented U-Haul.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> They just put on gloves and they picked up the pieces and silently carried them into the back of the U-Haul van while journalists asked them lots and lots of questions that they ignored every single one of.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> We also reached out to SpaceX about this story but never heard back from them. The company has posted a statement about its commitment to space sustainability on its website, which includes a discussion of a proactive, controlled de-orbit. Samantha says their options may be limited.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> They\u2019re trying to balance, is it worse to leave stuff in orbit where it can crash and cause debris and lead to unsafe situations in orbit, or is it better to bring it down to the ground and deal with the atmospheric pollution and the pieces hitting the ground? There\u2019s not a good answer there. We use satellites all the time for so many different things. We need to preserve our ability to continue using satellites. So, I really think we\u2019re coming up against hard limits on how much stuff we can have in orbit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Experts who track Starlink satellites say the company has provisional approval to launch up to 42,000 satellites, but right now it has closer to 9,000 in orbit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> Launching all of these throwaway satellites with five-year-or-less lifetimes that then just get burned up in the atmosphere and dumped on the ground, that\u2019s not okay. We need to concentrate on having fewer satellites in orbit that have longer operational lifetimes.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> One big problem is that there\u2019s no binding international system to govern what happens in orbit, and the rules of each country differ. Samantha says that without consistent regulation, we could be headed to a worst-case scenario called the Kessler syndrome.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> Satellites crash and you get pieces that crash into more satellites and make more debris, and suddenly you can\u2019t use orbit anymore. I really think we\u2019re right on the edge of that, and I am quite concerned about our ability to continue using orbit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> She says that right now, SpaceX monitors potential collisions and makes adjustments, but this work needs to happen almost nonstop in order to achieve the overall goal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> They\u2019re doing one collision-avoidance maneuver every 30 seconds right now. That\u2019s from their own report.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> You mean they\u2019re turning on a thruster or something to push it out of the way?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> Yep. Yeah, they\u2019re changing the orbits of their satellites to avoid a potential collision. And it is really scary to me that we are relying on collision avoidance maneuvers every 30 seconds in order to continue using orbit safely.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> What attention is being paid to this problem? Are any of the right people taking it seriously?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> Honestly, I\u2019m not sure. So right now, it\u2019s up to launching countries to regulate the safety of their satellites. So it is up to the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, to regulate Starlink. There\u2019s been many calls within the FCC to just delete rules.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Some industry groups have fought to ease regulations on orbital debris. Others have advocated to strengthen them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> That has implications for the entire world\u2019s ability to use orbit, not just the U.S. These satellites orbit over most countries in the world, and there are committees in the U.N. that make guidelines for how to use orbit, but they have no ability to enforce anything, even though this is such an international problem.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> And you attended a U.N. workshop about this. Can you describe that?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> Yeah, it was a U.N. workshop on space sustainability. And it was also interesting because this was the U.N. Office of Outer Space Affairs. And there were a lot of people at this conference, all these people who work at satellite companies, saying, \u201cWe want you to regulate orbit. Please regulate orbit. We need safety regulations.\u201d And the people from the U.N. were like, \u201cOh, we can\u2019t really do that.\u201d It was not at all the situation I was picturing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> The tricky thing there is that the rules and regulations that we have are a bit out of date.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> This is Dan Falk again.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> There is something called the Outer Space Treaty that dates back to the Apollo era. I believe it went into effect in 1967, so two years before the first moon landing. But this was the time when American astronauts were venturing into Earth orbit and so on. The experts that I talked to said it\u2019s okay for what it is, but it was mainly focused on liability. If country A puts an object into space and then parts of it fall down and impact country B, then country A is financially liable for those damages, which is fine. It\u2019s better than not having any laws. But today\u2019s concerns go beyond that. It seems like it would be a good idea for governments to step up, and indeed, it would have to be some sort of international effort.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Most U.S. and European agencies already require government missions and the companies they contract with to mitigate debris from controlled re-entry. But again, there still isn\u2019t a method for enforcing these regulations at a global scale.<\/p>\n<p>So beyond individual awareness, what possible alternatives or solutions are there on the table that could help control the space junk situation, perhaps at a national level or a corporate level?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> Well, in terms of cleanup operations, these are sort of in the early stages. But some suggestions have been put forward for spacecraft that go up there and then literally clean up the debris that other spacecraft have left behind. Now, that\u2019s not something that\u2019s easy to scale up. I don\u2019t know how much impact that could have as a long-term solution. The other thing is, I don\u2019t mean to pick on SpaceX in particular, but just having satellites have a longer lifetime. This relates somewhat to how we treat our consumer goods on the ground. You buy a printer or a television or an air purifier, it\u2019s good if it lasts 10 or 15 years. But think how great it would be if we didn\u2019t have to send all these items to the landfill after three or four years. This is significant. Now, having a satellite fall out of the sky is worse, so having them last longer would be great.<\/p>\n<p>And then this idea of a controlled re-entry, at least for the rocket stages. So knowing where stuff is going to come down, reusing it if you can, and then also, one can imagine making it a condition that before a company gets one of these lucrative government contracts, they demonstrate that they have this ability to de-orbit some percentage of the stuff they put up in a controlled manner. So, there\u2019s certainly things along those lines that can be done. I wish there was some really great way to make space junk go away. I don\u2019t think the overall problem is going to go away. I think it\u2019s going to be with us really for a long time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Dan, thank you so much for helping direct our gaze upward to learn about this phenomenon of space junk. I will take you at your word and not worry too much about.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Falk:<\/strong> I was happy to take part. Thanks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> Thanks, Dan.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> To read more of Dan Falk\u2019s reporting on space and to see pictures of some of this space junk we talked about in this episode, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/science-nature\/with-space-junk-on-the-rise-is-a-catastrophic-event-inevitable-180986907\/\">SmithsonianMag.com<\/a>. We\u2019ll put a link in our show notes.<\/p>\n<p>On the next episode of \u201cThere\u2019s More to That,\u201d we\u2019ll gather around the dinner table with two writers cooking up memories of their favorite family holiday dishes. Bring your appetites.<\/p>\n<p>If you like this show, please consider leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the iHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s More to That\u201d is a production of <em>Smithsonian<\/em> magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is me, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly.<\/p>\n<p>From PRX, our team is Ali Budner, Cleo Levin, Genevieve Sponsler, Sandra Lopez-Monsalve and Edwin Ochoa. The executive producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales.<\/p>\n<p>Our episode artwork is by Emily Lankiewicz. Fact-checking by Stephanie Abramson. I\u2019m Ari Daniel. Thanks for listening.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When I got home from that conference, I just spent the time in light polluted Europe, and I hadn\u2019t seen the stars at all. And I get back to my dark prairie road. I\u2019m like, \u201cYes, I get my stars back, and I had these great conversations about satellites, and everything\u2019s going to be fine.\u201d And then I saw a Starlink train. I\u2019m like, \u201cOh, that is not what I wanted to see right now!\u201d So, the satellites are here. They\u2019re here. They\u2019re everywhere. Yeah. This is not a problem that\u2019s going away.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Daniel:<\/strong> You can\u2019t even escape them in quiet Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Lawler:<\/strong> Yeah. Yep. It was like a movie. I couldn\u2019t make that up.<\/p>\n<div class=\"in-article-newsletter science\">\n<div class=\"leade\">\n<h3>Get the latest <strong>Science<\/strong> stories in your inbox.<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<section class=\"tag-list\">\n<nav class=\"nav-tags\">\n<\/nav>\n<\/section><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Chunks of satellites and pieces of debris falling from space are causing trouble down here on Earth Ari Daniel &#8211; Host, &#8220;There&#8217;s More to That&#8221; December 4, 2025 7:00 a.m. Illustration by Emily Lankiewicz \/ Images by Samantha Lawler \/ NASA \/ smspsy via Adobe Stock and public domain We have launched all manner of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":330334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12024],"tags":[73425,9183,4106,1467],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-330333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aerospace","tag-astronomical","tag-junk","tag-problem","tag-space"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chunks of satellites and pieces of debris falling from space are causing trouble down here on Earth Ari Daniel &#8211; Host, &#8220;There&#8217;s More to That&#8221; December 4, 2025 7:00 a.m. Illustration by Emily Lankiewicz \/ Images by Samantha Lawler \/ NASA \/ smspsy via Adobe Stock and public domain We have launched all manner of [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-04T12:29:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1067\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"25 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-04T12:29:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333\"},\"wordCount\":4939,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Astronomical\",\"Junk\",\"Problem\",\"Space\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Aerospace\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333\",\"name\":\"The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-04T12:29:41+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":1067},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Chunks of satellites and pieces of debris falling from space are causing trouble down here on Earth Ari Daniel &#8211; Host, &#8220;There&#8217;s More to That&#8221; December 4, 2025 7:00 a.m. Illustration by Emily Lankiewicz \/ Images by Samantha Lawler \/ NASA \/ smspsy via Adobe Stock and public domain We have launched all manner of [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-12-04T12:29:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":1067,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"25 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk","datePublished":"2025-12-04T12:29:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333"},"wordCount":4939,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg","keywords":["Astronomical","Junk","Problem","Space"],"articleSection":["Aerospace"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333","name":"The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg","datePublished":"2025-12-04T12:29:41+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/smithmag-podcast-s04-ep18-space_junk-article.jpg","width":1600,"height":1067},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=330333#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=330333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/330334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=330333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=330333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=330333"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=330333"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=330333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}