Watch the moment a cosmonaut tossed a bag of parts into space but NASA said the space litter is harmless
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The cosmonaut tossed an 11-pound bag of leftover equipment into orbit, but NASA is not concerned about it contributing to Earth's space junk problem.
A cosmonaut threw a bag of leftover parts into space during a spacewalk last week.
Technically, it's space littering. But NASA said tossing the bag into space was harmless.
The bag won't spend much time in orbit and soon burn up in Earth's atmosphere.
However, NASA tweeted shortly after the event that the bundle was harmless because it will just burn up in Earth's atmosphere:
That's because space littering is different. Basically, space littering is like if someone came along after the electrician, burned the bag, and discarded the ashes. Earth's atmosphere is like our own personal trash dispenser, in a way.
It's not clear how long the bundle will remain in orbit, but since it has no engine to boost itself every few months like satellites do, gravity will soon drag it into a freefall through the atmosphere, where friction will burn it up.
"It has a short shelf life in orbit," NASA tweeted.
NASA/Canadian Space Agency
A picture of a chip in the ISS Cupola taken by ESA astronaut Tim Peake in April 2016ESA/NASA
Luckily, most of the planet is water and only some of the land contains buildings and people. The odds that falling space junk will cause injury or damage property are extremely low, but they're slowly creeping up as more and more stuff gets launched into orbit.
But a tiny bag, like the one Prokopyev tossed, is not a concern because it will quickly deorbit and burn up in Earth's atmosphere, without a trace.
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