Space junk: a risky game of space invaders

Dead satellites and debris orbiting Earth pose a real threat to astronauts, warns Michael Day. When, in the early hours of February 10, 2009, an American communications satellite called Iridium 33 smashed into a Russian military satellite 500 miles above Earth's surface, the experts called it an "unprecedented event". A better description might have been "an accident waiting to happen". More

(Source: Telegraph.co.uk - Nov 17)