Space debris/Related Articles
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A list of Citizendium articles, and planned articles, about Space debris.
Terminology
- Satellite [r]: An object that travels in orbit around a more massive body. [e]
- Orbit [r]: A (nearly) closed or repeating path [1] traveled by one object around another due to the force of gravity. Orbits are approximately elliptical in shape, and can be very nearly circular. (A circle is a special case of an ellipse, where the ellipse has an eccentricity of zero.) [e]
Major sources of space debris
- Rocket upper stages
- Defunct satellites
- Slag from solid rocket motors
- Paint flakes
- NaK coolant from RORSAT nuclear powered satellites
Broken Up Satellites
- Fengyun-1C [r]: A Chinese weather satellite destroyed in an anti-satellite weapon test. [e]
Important satellites
- International Space Station [r]: A space station currently in earth orbit assembled collaboratively by the space agencies of many nations. [e]
- Space Shuttle [r]: Add brief definition or description
- Hubble Space Telescope [r]: A telescope in orbit around the Earth that has made many important astronomical observations. [e]