Scientists invent a new way to track space junk during the day

• Space junk is a huge problem for space agencies and a serious danger to future space missions.
• Researchers have now invented a new way to detect and track space junk in realtime during the day using a combination of lasers and specialized imaging equipment.
• Estimates suggest there may be over 100 million pieces of space debris orbiting our planet.

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You might not see it when you gaze up at the night sky, but there's a whole lot of junk orbiting Earth right now. Pieces of defunct satellites, discarded rocket stages, and other manmade debris circles our planet like a giant bubble of trash. Tracking the positions of these objects is necessary for the safety of working satellites as well as crewed missions and even the dangers they pose to the International Space Station.

As MIT Technology Review reports, a new technique to track this debris is offering the ability to spot space junk in broad daylight, rather than within tiny time windows as was previously the case.

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Scientists invent a new way to track space junk during the day originally appeared on BGR.com on Thu, 6 Aug 2020 at 18:46:07 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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