Word: orbits
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Since the last maximum, the number of satellites in orbit has increased sixfold, to more than 600. They are essential for everything from telephone service and air-traffic control to you-name-it.com connections, pay-at-the-pump credit-card service and hundreds of other information-age conveniences. Yet for reasons of economy, or just plain indifference, few of these spacecraft are properly shielded...
Even so, a Syrian treaty would be a cost-effective strategic victory for Washington. It would open the way for Persian Gulf states to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. It would leave only Iraq and Iran outside the U.S. orbit. In that part of the world, peace may come at a high price, but the one thing more expensive...
This reaction, while not uncommon, is not realistic given the history of serious collisions, says Jaroff, and the possibility of future events. "We now have a catalog of 200-odd asteroids more than a kilometer across whose trajectories bring them very close to Earth's orbit. A piece of rock that's a kilometer or larger would have worldwide consequences if it hit the planet." Specifically, the sky would go dark with ash, plant life would die and existence would be generally much less enjoyable. And even if a relatively small asteroid were to make contact with a major metropolitan...
...country's most prestigious research facilities to conjure up ways of dealing with these hurtling rocks should an asteroid ever establish itself as a threat. "Once they've identified the asteroid," Jaroff says, "scientists can predict years, even decades ahead of time whether it will intersect the Earth's orbit at a moment when the Earth is there." And should scientists discover such a scenario looming on the horizon, Jaroff says there are many ways to engage, deflect or destroy the giant rocks, including the controlled use of nuclear bombs, whose blasts could nudge the asteroids off their collision course...
With the Declaration, Jefferson gave the Enlightenment its most eloquent and succinct political expression. He lifted the human race into a higher orbit...