Word: orbit
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...space travel survivable at all? Because all speed is relative. A satellite orbiting Earth may be moving at 17,500 m.p.h., but so is every other object in the same orbital corridor. Relative to one another, they're standing still. If one happened to speed up to 17,505 m.p.h., the most it could do is nudge another ship at 5 m.p.h. Attaining orbit is like entering an expressway: the tricky part is merging; once you're there, all you have to do is maintain your speed, and you'll be fine. (Read "Are We Bringing Our Germs to Mars...
...ever walked through a swarm of gnats at a picnic, you have some idea of what it's like to navigate the mass of debris that circles our planet in low-Earth orbit. Space planners have long warned that the growing belt of cosmic junk would eventually lead to collisions, and on Tuesday it happened, when an American satellite and a defunct Russian satellite totaled each other 500 miles above Siberia. This has sparked new worries that space is simply becoming too dangerous a place to travel. Things aren't nearly that severe yet - but they're getting worse...
Like popular commuter routes, orbital corridors have been growing increasingly crowded since the 1950s. Every time we put even a small satellite into orbit, after all, much more than just the satellite comes along for the ride. There are spent booster stages, discarded adapter rings, bolts and panels and bits of insulation and even chips of paint being shed in the process. (See pictures of Earth from space...
...think those tiny pieces of junk can't do much harm, think again. According to a back-of-the-envelope rule the Apollo astronauts used, given the speeds involved in traveling in low-Earth orbit, a one-tenth-in. bit of chaff would collide with an oncoming spacecraft with as much force as a bowling ball traveling 60 m.p.h...
...Dear Iranian nation, your children have placed the first indigenous satellite into orbit.' MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, President of Iran, announcing the Feb. 2 launch on state television. The move has raised concern over Iran's ability to develop long-range missiles...