Space station to dump rubbish overboard
Space travel doesn't seemed to have updated our archaic earthly philosophy on waste disposal. What are the astronauts stationed at the International Space Station to do with their out of date technology? It seems that the answer is: They just dump it.
On Tuesday, in an example of celestial fly-tipping, two crew members took a space walk during which they chucked out 730kg of obsolete equipment. The waste included a 635kg ammonia tank, part of an early cooling system on the station.
[Via New Scientist]
NASA is normally opposed to creating more "space junk", but in this case they felt there was no other viable option. The jettisoned equipment will remain in space for around 300 days before it heads towards the Earth's atmosphere.
It is possible that not all of the material will burn up on re-entry, and there is a 1 in 5000 chance that it would land in a populated area. To minimise the risk, NASA will track the debris, so warnings can be issued if necessary.
