Space Junk 3D Page #2

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nearby earth is so strong,

every satellite has to travel

at hyper-velocity speeds,

upwards of 17,000 miles per hour.

The pull of gravity, balanced

against the satellite's velocity,

creates this curved orbital path.

Satellites and their around-the-clock

services are a fact of modern life.

LEO is ideal for communication

satellites like Iridium 33,

which provides voice and data

coverage for cellular telephones.

With satellites like Cosmos and Iridium

constantly crossing each other's paths,

they often experience what satellite

operators refer to as "close approaches",

two satellites passing within just

a few short miles of one another.

Amazingly, that can happen

around 150 times a day.

Space is indeed a busy place.

Our planet's need for communication

has transformed what was once called

"the Final Frontier" into something far

less romantic and far more congested.

Just 50 years ago, the

boundary seemed limitless.

From a ground station nestled in

the mountains of Andover, Maine,

a signal is sent to

a speeding satellite.

An historic feat, that

could reshape man's future...

That satellite of course is the Telstar.

170 pounds of messages and computer data

all can be handled by the orbiting device.

Ironically, this technological

wonder dies one year later,

becoming as what is known

as a "zombie satellite."

Telstar began the

revolution in communications

that now features a fleet of

satellites in the region we know as GEO.

These satellites form a densely

populated belt that circles the Equator.

They facilitate most of

the world's television,

military and internet communications.

Because its orbit

mirrors earth's rotation,

a satellite will appear to hover

over a point on the earth's surface.

The result? 24/7 continuous

coverage from air to sea, to land...

Think about this:

Here on earth when you download

a music file, host a video,

tweet, friend someone, or watch

your favourite cable TV show,

it's coming from GEO.

Our busy lives on earth have

become deeply connected to space.

Just like a coral reef or a rainforest,

GEO is a limited natural resource.

There's only one spot in GEO for

each satellite to maintain position.

Satellites may drift due

to gravitational pull from

both the Sun and the Moon,

slowly changing their orbits.

Enter station keepers,

traffic cops of space...

They send signals commanding

satellites to adjust orbits,

by firing up the onboard thrusters,

keeping them out of harm's way.

But no amount of station keeping

would have altered the course

of what was to become the largest

debris-generating event on record.

In early 2007, an anti-satellite

missile test took place in LEO.

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