Page 11 - Trashing the Planet: Examining Our Global Garbage Glut

In January 2001, a section of a rocket used to launch a US spacecraft
fell back to Earth instead of burning up high in the atmosphere. It landed
in the desert of Saudi Arabia.

fifteen hundred large fragments. The blazing bits, traveling faster than the
speed of sound, created loud explosions called sonic booms.

WHAT TO DO NOW?

Photos of Earth taken from outer space are among the most important
gifts that NASA has made to humanity. One of the most famous photos,
called Blue Marble, is a 2012 picture of Earth taken from a satellite. The
deep blue waters of the ocean, encircled by swirling white clouds, make
Earth resemble a toy marble. The blue-green planet hangs in the dry, black
emptiness of space.
Blue Marble makes one thing abundantly clear: we have only one
Earth. No more Blue Marbles are within humanity’s reach, and if we
continue to trash this one, we will no longer have a safe, nourishing, and
healthy place to live. Whether the trash we are dealing with is space junk,

SPACE JUNK 89