Monday, January 25, 2016

Rise in space junk orbiting the Earth could provoke war Russian scientists warn

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/rise-in-space-junk-orbiting-the-earth-could-provoke-armed-conflict-warn-russian-scientists-a6831256.html

It's not known how many pieces of space junk (illustrated) orbit the Earth and moon, but WT1190F is rare. It is believed to be one of only 20 or so man-made objects tracked in distant orbit, according to Gareth Williams, an astronomer at the Minor Planet Centre in Cambridge, Massachusetts 
Researchers at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow said the debris had a “special political danger” because it is difficult to determine whether an operational satellite had been hit by the fragments or was intentionally attacked by another country.