From the Ted Talk by Natalie Panek: Let's clean up the space junk orbiting Earth
Unscramble the Blue Letters
Of the nearly 7,000 satellites launched since the late 1950s, only about one in seven is currently operational, and in addition to the satellites that are no lgoner working, there's also hundreds of thousands of marble-sized debris and millions of paint chip-sized debris that are also obitrnig around the Earth. Space debirs is a major risk to space missions, but also to the satellites that we rely on each and every day.
Now, because space debris and junk has become increasingly worrisome, there have been some national and international ertffos to develop technical sdadnarts to help us limit the generation of additional debris. So for example, there are recommendations for those low-Earth orbiting spacecraft to be made to deorbit in under 25 years, but that's still a really long time, especially if a satellite hasn't been working for years. There's also mandates for those dead geostationary spacecraft to be moved into a gvryeaard obirt. But neither of these gedleuiins is binding under international law, and the understanding is that they will be ineemptelmd through national mechanisms. These guidelines are also not long-term, they're not proactive, nor do they address the debris that's already up there. They're only in place to liimt the future creation of debris. Space junk is no one's responsibility.
Open Cloze
Of the nearly 7,000 satellites launched since the late 1950s, only about one in seven is currently operational, and in addition to the satellites that are no ______ working, there's also hundreds of thousands of marble-sized debris and millions of paint chip-sized debris that are also ________ around the Earth. Space ______ is a major risk to space missions, but also to the satellites that we rely on each and every day.
Now, because space debris and junk has become increasingly worrisome, there have been some national and international _______ to develop technical _________ to help us limit the generation of additional debris. So for example, there are recommendations for those low-Earth orbiting spacecraft to be made to deorbit in under 25 years, but that's still a really long time, especially if a satellite hasn't been working for years. There's also mandates for those dead geostationary spacecraft to be moved into a ______________. But neither of these __________ is binding under international law, and the understanding is that they will be ___________ through national mechanisms. These guidelines are also not long-term, they're not proactive, nor do they address the debris that's already up there. They're only in place to _____ the future creation of debris. Space junk is no one's responsibility.
Solution
standards
graveyard
orbiting
implemented
debris
longer
limit
efforts
orbit
guidelines
Original Text
Of the nearly 7,000 satellites launched since the late 1950s, only about one in seven is currently operational, and in addition to the satellites that are no longer working, there's also hundreds of thousands of marble-sized debris and millions of paint chip-sized debris that are also orbiting around the Earth. Space debris is a major risk to space missions, but also to the satellites that we rely on each and every day.
Now, because space debris and junk has become increasingly worrisome, there have been some national and international efforts to develop technical standards to help us limit the generation of additional debris. So for example, there are recommendations for those low-Earth orbiting spacecraft to be made to deorbit in under 25 years, but that's still a really long time, especially if a satellite hasn't been working for years. There's also mandates for those dead geostationary spacecraft to be moved into a graveyard orbit. But neither of these guidelines is binding under international law, and the understanding is that they will be implemented through national mechanisms. These guidelines are also not long-term, they're not proactive, nor do they address the debris that's already up there. They're only in place to limit the future creation of debris. Space junk is no one's responsibility.