A Piece of Space Garbage is Heading for Earth
Good news, everyone!
There’s a mysterious chunk of space debris, originally orbiting far beyond the moon, that is scheduled to make a return to Earth around November 13th according to astronomers. Aptly named WT1190F, it’s been sized at about one to two meters in length and is likely hollow—but beyond that, we don’t know too much about it.
Now, before anyone panics, this won’t be a scenario in which we have to create enough garbage here on Earth to launch this chunk of space trash back into the universe.
Based on the size alone, most of it will burn up in the atmosphere as it falls to Earth. The remainder is due to make a landing into the Indian Ocean just south of Sri Lanka, so you might want to cancel any planned boating trips.
It’s going to be a pretty minor event, but scientists are eager to track the collision and to study even its most mild impact on our planet. Astronomers are also using the opportunity to test out a system that was originally designated to track object collisions of a much greater nature.
Because of its hollow nature, it’s suspected that WT1190F might actually be a former piece of space history—like from a moon landing or a shuttle launch. And while we’ll probably lose most of it in the atmosphere first, wouldn’t it be awesome if enough of it survives for us to study it?
This isn’t the only piece of space trash orbiting around our planet—in fact, it’s one of thousands—but none of the others are known to have made a return trip to Earth so far. For that reason alone, this is a special piece of space garbage!
(via Gizmodo, image via 20th Century Fox)
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