🇪🇺 #ESA 📆 2023 Annual #SpaceEnvironment Report : Over 80 % 📈 of constellation #satellites 🛰️ launched in 2022 were inserted into #orbits from which they will decay towards #Earth in less than two years 📉 once they are no longer operational or if they lose propulsion. The increasing number of satellites reentering Earth’s atmosphere is therefore expected to continue in coming years. For older pieces of debris, the only solution is active #SpaceDebrisRemoval. https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/ESA_s_Space_Environment_Report_2023
In 📆 1979, pieces of the #SpaceStation#Skylab crashed onto Esperance* 🇦🇺 after the craft broke up over the Indian Ocean. The municipality fined the #US 🇺🇸 $400 💵 for #littering 🗑️.The fine was paid in 📆 2009, when radio show host Scott Barley of Highway Radio raised the funds from his morning show listeners, and paid the fine on behalf of #NASA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperance,_Western_Australia
I think it makes sense to call today the "official" start date of one of my two research leave projects around the notion of "Living and Working in Space", and I'm hoping to document it at least partly in the form of threads on here...so, here goes, follow this for more (imminent) detail!