An experimental satellite that launched in 1974 disappeared from ground-based sensors in the 1990s, only to be found again this week. Some defunct satellites or debris can often go missing for years, presenting hazards within an increasingly crowded Earth orbit. But, how exactly do objects disappear in space?
Carl Godfrey for BI
That was a really close one. Further analysis of a near-miss collision between two satellites in space revealed that they came even closer to one another than initially believed, raising more alarm over the growing danger of space debris.
On March 8, a small, cylinder-shaped object fell from the skies and crashed through the roof of a family home in Naples, Florida. Alejandro Otero, the homeowner, suspected it came from space but he wasn’t sure what he needed to do get NASA’s attention and be taken seriously.
Too much light at night may be bad for our brains, research out this week suggests. In a population of city residents in China, researchers found a link between increased exposure to artificial outdoor light at night and a greater risk of stroke. Unsurprisingly, they also found that more exposure to air pollution was…
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In a tense moment for space safety, two satellites—NASA’s TIMED spacecraft and the defunct Russian Cosmos 2221—came alarmingly close to smashing into each other above Earth, prompting concerns about the risks of space debris.
