Word: junking
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Right now, there are 3,800 pieces of junk circling the earth...
...North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which is responsible for providing early warning against aerial attacks, estimates that some 3,800 pieces of junk are currently circling the earth.* Total weight of this space-age garbage: six tons. Two-thirds of the nuts, bolts, oxygen cylinders, broken solar panels, dead satellites, spent rocket boosters and other litter is in geosynchronous orbit 22,300 miles from the earth's surface, where it will remain indefinitely. One-third of the circling scrap is in low earth orbit, only 120 to 300 miles overhead...
Most of the space garbage consists of nonfunctioning satellites and space probes launched from earth. There is also fragmentary junk, resulting from mid-space collisions between spacecraft and meteorites. Astronauts have dumped sewage, food containers and spent oxygen cylinders overboard. On rare occasions, space walkers have accidentally dropped objects in space. Astronaut Ed White lost a shiny white glove during the Gemini 4 flight in 1965. George ("Pinky") Nelson fumbled away two tiny screws while repairing the Solar Maximum Mission satellite during the shuttle flight last month...
...What competitive event would pit a running back (Earl Campbell), a race-car driver (A.J. Foyt) and an astronaut (Air Force Colonel Joe Engle) against a high-strung team armed only with cellos, violins, one harp and a collection of horns? No, not ABC's Wide Whirl of Junk Sports. Real answer: the 1984 Houston Symphony Olympics, a cacophonous assembly of nine celebrity guest conductors who showed up last week for a publicity-stunt contest that generated more than 1,500 new subscribers for the symphony season. All conducted themselves admirably-and the suffering orchestra less well...
...Tony called the cops to guard City Hall to make sure Sandy didn't dump any incriminating documents in the building. The city's outgoing personnel director had, of course, already been caught earlier in the day in the midst of as he put it, "clearing out some old junk" by feeding it through a shredder--behind a locked door...