The problem of defunct human-made objects in Earth orbit and the runaway chain of collisions known as the Kessler syndrome that they could set off. A concept belongs here when its cited article is about space debris or collisional cascading. Members are placed here from their own cited Wikipedia articles, each with a verbatim supporting quotation, so a reader can check why an entry sits in this group. The grouping forms part of the browse path for this section of the atlas.
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Orbital Debris
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Kessler syndrome (Wikipedia)
Has Member: Kessler Syndrome, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Member: Kessler Syndrome, Lead sentence
It describes a situation in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO) becomes so high due to space pollution that collisions between these objects cascade, exponentially increasing the amount of space debris over time.
Space debris (Wikipedia)
Has Member: Space Debris, Lead sentenceQuote, Has Member: Space Debris, Lead sentence
Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, space garbage, or cosmic debris) are defunct human-made objects in space, principally in Earth orbit, which no longer serve a useful function.
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