- A cosmonaut threw a bag of leftover parts into space during a spacewalk last week.
- Technically, it's space littering. But NASA said tossing the bag into space was harmless.
Last week, cosmonauts $4 and $4 donned their spacesuits and ventured outside the International Space Station for $4 that would last 7 hours and 11 minutes.
The $4, but that's not the reason these cosmonauts are gaining attention.
About $4, Prokopyev tossed an 11-pound bag of leftover equipment into space. "It flies beautifully," the cosmonaut said as it sped into the dark void.
Now, if this were an electrician working on a powerline who chucked their bag of leftovers into a ditch after the job, you'd call that littering. And that's what some $4 are insinuating here: that Prokopyev did something wrong.
However, NASA tweeted shortly after the event that the bundle was harmless because it will just burn up in Earth's atmosphere:
—International Space Station (@Space_Station) $4
That's because space littering is different. Basically, space littering is like if someone came along after the electrician, burned the bag, and discarded the ashes. Earth's atmosphere is like our own personal trash dispenser, in a way.
It's not clear how long the bundle will remain in orbit, but since it has no engine to boost itself every few months like satellites do, gravity will soon drag it into a freefall through the atmosphere, where friction will burn it up.
"It has a short shelf life in orbit," NASA tweeted.
—International Space Station (@Space_Station) $4
We're not saying that space junk, in general, isn't a problem. It $4 as well as future space exploration as a whole.
The biggest concern when it comes to space junk is $4, rocket stages, and other large pieces of unmaneuverable metal that can collide in orbit.
Such $4 explode into a vast cloud of debris — thousands of tiny bits of spacecraft that rocket around Earth faster than a bullet. If any of those debris pieces strike an active spacecraft, including the ISS, it can cause serious damage.
Old space equipment can also $4 simply because it's old and falling apart. That, too, creates clouds of high-speed debris that can threaten functional satellites and the ISS.
In fact, multiple times a year $4 — and for good reason.
A hit by a 10-centimeter sphere of aluminum in orbit would be akin to detonating 15 pounds of TNT, according to $4. Even paint flecks orbiting Earth have damaged spacecraft windows.
Occasionally, $4, is too large to burn up, and lands somewhere on Earth.
Luckily, most of the planet is water and only some of the land contains buildings and people. The odds that falling space junk will cause injury or damage property are extremely low, but they're slowly creeping up as more and more stuff gets launched into orbit.
But a tiny bag, like the one Prokopyev tossed, is not a concern because it will quickly deorbit and burn up in Earth's atmosphere, without a trace.
During the spacewalk, Prokopyev and Petelin completed their main objective to $4 to a Russian module on the ISS that will help deploy future Russian experiments and small satellites. The two cosmonauts are scheduled to complete another spacewalk this Friday.