Scientists calculate the risk of someone being killed by space junk
The chances of someone being killed by space junk falling from the sky might seem very slim. After all, no one has died from such accidents yet, although there have been cases of injuries and property damage. But given that we are launching more and more satellites, rockets and probes into space, do we need to start taking more serious risks? Frame Stock Footage/Shutterstock A new study, published in Nature Astronomy, has predicted the possible causality of the falling rocket parts over the next ten years. ADVERTISEMENT CONTINUE READING BELOW Every minute of every day, debris rains down on us from space – a danger we are almost completely unaware of. Microscopic particles from asteroids and comets scatter downward through the atmosphere to settle on Earth’s surface – adding up to about 40,000 tons of dust each year. While this is not a problem for us, such debris can damage spacecraft – as recently reported by the James Webb space telescope. Occasionally, larger samples arrive as m