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Trash from Intl Space Station, tank of toxic ammonia coolant,expected to strike earth on 11/2. No other way?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27479972/
An excerpt from the article for fair use and to pique the interest of readers and those who are alarmed at the amount of trash that has been left in space and is defiling "the last frontier". Have we not learned ANYTHING about the defilement of Earth? Apparently NOT! By Tariq Malik Senior editor updated 8:15 p.m. ET, Fri., Oct. 31, 2008 A piece of space station trash the size of a refrigerator is poised to plunge through the Earth's atmosphere late Sunday, more than a year after an astronaut tossed it overboard. NASA and the U.S. Space Surveillance Network are tracking the object — a 1,400-pound (635-kg) tank of toxic ammonia coolant thrown from the international space station — to make sure it does not endanger people on Earth. Exactly where the tank will inevitably fall is currently unknown, though it is expected to re-enter Earth's atmosphere Sunday afternoon or later that evening, NASA officials said. ************************************************** ************************************************** *********** In the article, NASA says it would not be a good idea for anyone to touch it. Apparently NASA is taking the responsibility for the refuse entering earth's atmosphere. According to Wikipedia, a total of 17 countries participate in the International Space Station. It would seem it would have been a very high priority of all those countries to have a process in place to take care of the trash that is generated by the Space Station. IIRC, there has been a space shuttle mission to the ISS since it was thrown out, so that toxic ammonia coolant tank could have been loaded up on the space shuttle and brought down to earth, where the refuse could be dealt with more efficiently and morally. |
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