How does space debris affect us?
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Space debris has become a growing concern in recent years, since collisions at orbital velocities can be highly damaging to functioning satellites and can also produce even more space debris in the process, called Kessler Syndrome. Some spacecraft, like the International Space Station, are now armored to deal with this hazard. Also astronauts on EVA are vulnerable; see Extra-vehicular activity.\n\nThe first verified collision with catalogued space debris occurred in 1996, tearing off a boom from the French satellite Cerise.\n\nClouds of very small particles are not as serious but cause erosive damage, like sandblasting.
977280
not likely- no matter how many humans populate the planet, we make up  a very small fraction of the total mass of the earth,which is the same as it always was, since very little material has been removed from the earth since it was formed. The tsunami didn't affect the earth's orbit, it affected the rotation of the earth around its axis(sped it up by about one-billionth of a mile per hour) but didn't change the speed at which we travel around the sun(orbit) at all.no matter how we redistribute material around the planet we only change the weight distribution of the planet by a very,very small fraction so the effect will be unnoticable. the effect on this planet from human activity of any kind is much smaller than we think- greenhouse gas levels were far higher during the age of the dinosaurs than they are now (and humans didn't exist then). the amount of iron and other minerals we have taken out of the ground accounts for about onemillionth of a percent of the total amount still there. from out in space, you can't look at the earth and see anything that would suggest we live here, except the Great Wall of China and the light from our cities at night, so how great of an impact do we really have?
699807
Space is good.  We like space.\n\nYou can deal with it by not over reacting.
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Actually, asteroids hit the earth daily.  They are just so small that they burn up in the earth's atmosphere so we don't notice them.  \n\nIf you'd like to keep up to date on the bigger ones, you might want to check here: http://impact.arc.nasa.gov/index.cfm\n(it doesn't speak about anything hitting the earth in a month or so, but you can read more there)\n\n\nAdded:\nHere's another site that shows close approaches of larger objects: http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/\n\nAs well as different impact risks for known objects:  http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/
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I think, barring an "extinction level event" (i.e. large planet-killing meteorite, nuclear holocaust, etc.) human nature impels us to explore.  As our technology advances we will expand outwards, first to orbit and the moon and eventually out into the solar system.  Sooner or later, even the solar system will start to feel small, and people will begin to look toward nearby stars.  What obstacles we may encounter are left to the imagination, but, unless something stops us before we get established in space, it will be difficult (if not impossible) to keep us from expanding across the galaxy...there are no limits.
348508
More than 8,927 man-made objects of which greater than 2,671 are satellites. There are over 100,000 pieces of debris larger than a dime.
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See wikipedia links. They explain how each orbits the sun. See the entry on 'impact event' for probabilities, etc. What would happen depends on the size relative to the earth. This ranges from almost no effect for a small one that burns up in the atmosphere before hitting the ground, through to total extinction of mankind and other large species for a very large one. Effects also include, impact craters such as Meteor Crater in Arizona and also the big hole where the gulf of mexico now is, and sometimes an explosion of an asteroid in the atmosphere, some distance above the ground, causing a blast across a wide area, like the Tunguska one in Russia in 1908.
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Yes, that's pretty much what would happen. There are ways to protect technology from these things but basically with something of that magnitude much of the more sensitive technology would be isolated. Also, it's just part of life that these things happen and cause damage from time to time.\n\nIt takes longer than 8 minutes to get to Earth, by the way, so we can predict them by watching the Sun. That allows precaustionary measures to be taken. If it was 8 minutes as you suggested, then how would we know to start switching things off anyway? Generally we have a day or so advance warning.
665358
Yes, probably. The real problem is cosmic rays. They cannot be stopped or even slowed down, and can cause DNA damage. Until we can solve this problem, space travel will continue to be hazardous.
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The world's space programmes have paid for themselves many times over in communications satellites, resource satellites to give advance warning of environmental disasters, weather satellites and they're about to pay off with manufacturing in microgravity.  And now the pure scientific research element of the space programmes has given us a more plausible account of how we came to be here than any religious fairy stories, there's a real chance that the world's religions will lose their appeal, and we'll have less reason to kill each other.  Before weather satellites, the first you knew of a tropical storm was when it hit you.
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The earth is continuously bombarded by small cosmic dust particles, ranging in sizes. The bigger onces millimeter size and bigger burn up in the atmosphere of the earth leaving visible traces that may last seconds or longer.
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My opinion is that we would have to change course of an asteroid headed for Earth.  That means that we would have to detect it years in advance.  With enough notice, we could build a Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) system.  Actually we would have to build several and attach them to the asteroid and start pushing.   They would need to be refueled, so we have to make several visits.   If successful, a project like this would be a real boon to the space program, the economy, and scientific knowlege.
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============================================================\nMagnetic Shield \n\nEarth's geodynamo creates a magnetic field that shields most of the habited parts of our planet from charged particles that come mostly from the sun. The field deflects the speeding particles toward Earth's Poles. \n\nWithout our planet's magnetic field, Earth would be subjected to more cosmic radiation. The increase could knock out power grids, scramble the communications systems on spacecraft, temporarily widen atmospheric ozone holes, and generate more aurora activity. \n\nA number of Earth's creatures, including some birds, turtles, and bees, rely on Earth's magnetic field to navigate. The field is in constant flux, scientists say. But even without it, life on Earth will continue, researchers say. \n\n"There are small fluctuations, which lead to nothing, and large ones, which we know from the geologic record are associated with reversals," said Peter Olson, a geophysicist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. \n============================================================\n\nMore at the following link:
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There will be no tsunamis, firestorms or mass extinctions to spoil your Memorial Day weekend. \n\nAlthough the Internet is rife with speculation that a fragment of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 will strike the Earth on May 25, neither the main comet nor any of its more than 40 fragments pose a danger to Earth. \n\n"We are very well acquainted with the trajectory of Comet 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann 3," said Donald Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office. "There is absolutely no danger to people on the ground or the inhabitants of the International Space Station, as the main body of the object and any pieces from the breakup will pass many millions of miles beyond the Earth."\n\nImage above: Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys took images of the disintegration of Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3's fragment B. Click to EnlargeCredit: NASA, ESA, H. Weaver (APL/JHU), M. Mutchler and Z. Levay (STScI)\nMovie: Zoom to Fragment B close-up: + 544 Kb QuickTime | + Windows Media \n\nHowever, you can see the comet falling apart right before our eyes, thanks to NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. \n\nRecent Hubble images have uncovered many more fragments than have been reported by ground-based observers. These observations provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the demise of a comet nucleus. \n\nNone of the comet's fragments will come closer than 5.5 million miles to Earth during its closest approaches May 12 - 28. That's more than 20 times the distance from the Earth to the moon.\n\nThe main fragment, designated fragment C, will pass closest to Earth on May 12 at a distance of approximately 7.3 million miles. It will be visible to small telescopes during the morning hours in the constellation Vulpecula. NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope will observe the comet in May. \n\nAstronomers have been observing the comet for more than 75 years. The trajectory of this comet has been monitored and refined over time, and its path around the sun is well understood. Amateur and professional astronomers around the world have been tracking its spectacular disintegration for years. \n\nThe comet is currently comprised of a chain of fragments, named alphabetically, stretching across several degrees on the sky. (The sun and moon each have an apparent diameter of about 1/2 of a degree.) Ground-based observers have noted dramatic brightening events associated with some of the fragments (as seen in the image below) indicating that they are continuing to break-up and that some may disappear altogether.\n\n Image above: Ground based view of fragments B and G, R, and N on April 8, 2006. Credit: M. Jäger and G. Rhemann \n\nHubble caught two of the fragments, B and G, shortly after large outbursts in activity. Hubble also photographed fragment C , which at the time was less active. The resulting images reveal that a hierarchical destruction process is taking place, in which fragments are continuing to break into smaller chunks. Several dozen "mini-fragments" are found trailing behind each main fragment, probably associated with the ejection of house-sized chunks of surface material that can only be detected in these very sensitive and high- resolution Hubble images.\n\nSequential Hubble images of the B fragment, taken a few days apart, suggest that the chunks are pushed down the tail by outgassing from the icy, sunward-facing surfaces of the chunks, much like space-walking astronauts are propelled by their jetpacks. The smaller chunks have the lowest mass, and so are accelerated away from the parent nucleus faster than the larger chunks. Some of the chunks seem to dissipate completely over the course of several days.\n\nDeep-freeze relics of the early solar system, cometary nuclei are porous and fragile mixes of dust and ices. They can be broken apart by gravitational tidal forces when they pass near large bodies. For example, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was torn to pieces when it skirted ne
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The Satellite Situation Report from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Dated September, 1997, the report counts almost 25,000 man-made objects: 8681 currently in orbit, and over 16,000 objects in a state of decay. Not every single satellite is included, since some are too small or too far away from home to be detected.\n\nRussia leads the list in decayed objects (with a debris count close to 10,000) and comes in a close second (3897) to the United States (4018) for currently orbiting objects. Keep in mind that these figures are already a few years old.
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Because every thing we find out about anything can be of use some day. Many of the things we have now come from the space program.
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Earth gains about 40,000 tons of mass each year from infalling cometary debris and meteorites.\n\nGod should be spelled B-I-G B-A-N-G\nPBrax@netscape.com