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Political Cartoons
Space Trash
By Cartoon: Jianping Fan, Guangzhou, China
Project: Cynthia Kirkeby, ClassBrain
Mar 23, 2009, 00:20 PST



Jianping Fan, Guangzhou, China


Space trash the size of a refrigerator that was expelled from the International Space Station came crashing down and burned up over the ocean in November 2008. Large quantities of debris from various space voyages have made travel in space hazardous, and increased the likelihood of some of the jettisoned materials to become a hazard on the ground as well.


Thoughts to Ponder

  • What is space trash and how did it come to be?
  • Why are we concerned about space trash when it is floating in space?
  • Can you think of a way that some of the space trash could be cleaned up?
  • Should Space Shuttle missions be required to reclaim some space trash each time they return to Earth?


Learning Links For Space Trash

What Is Space Trash?
Source: NASA - Starchild

Archaeology of Space Garbage
Source: W. L. Rathje

Space station junk burns up over ocean
Source: MSNBC.com

Who'll Take Out the Space Trash?
Source: WIRED Science





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