From ABC News of 12 Mar 2009 entitled "Space Station's Close Call With Junk: More to Come":
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The near-hit of space junk Thursday was a warning shot fired across the bow of the international space station, experts said. There's likely more to come in the future. With less than an hour's notice, the three astronauts were told they'd have to seek shelter in a Russian capsule parked at the space station in case a speeding piece of space junk hit Thursday.
If it hit and they were in the main part of the station, they'd have only 10 minutes of safety, ...
The crew moved so fast that they may have left their instruction manual on the other side of a closed hatch. Inside the Soyuz, they waited for 10 minutes, ready to flee to Earth if the worst happened. On the ground, space debris experts fretted.
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Chinese were warning of this problem using a low orbit example to accentuate their point. Back then, extremists were in routine denial. America was leading the charge that also included stifling stem cell research and quantum physics. Instead, extremists wanted to militarize space because that is what their partisan politics dictate.
What is good for science is good for extremists? Of course not. What is good for extremists is good for science.
Like a need for pollution controls in the 1960s and elimination of ozone destroying chemicals in the 1980s, another serious problem exists - obviously. Space junk is routine. Even rocket launches leave some rocket stages in space. One astronaut lost her tools in space.
Do we take this problem seriously? Do we ignore political extremists and deal with the problem internationally? Finally America has leaders that would cooperate with the world. The worst thing we might do is military space. Littering in space may finally become illegal. Yes, nations currently do nothing to minimize their rubbish. It is a problem.
NASA operates a super computer whose only function is to predict when space debris threatens the ISS. Therefore they had how much warning? Littering already is a serious problem that is even worse at altitudes that man does not (yet) go.
Quote:
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The space station and space shuttle have been hit by debris in the past. But so far the only holes have been in the station's solar panels and in the shuttle radiator
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