Potential Trigger
The Envisat satellite is a very large target with a mass of 8.211 metric tons, now drifting at 785 km (488 mi), an altitude where the debris environment is the greatest and likely to increase. In the next 150 years that the inactive satellite will remain in orbit, it will become a significant debris source and could easily become a major debris contributor from a collision. Envisat is currently drifting in an environment where 2 catalogued objects can be expected to pass within about 200 meters of Envisat every year.
Read more about this topic: Kessler Syndrome
Famous quotes containing the word potential:
“Raising a daughter is an extremely political act in this culture. Mothers have been placed in a no-win situation with their daughters: if they teach their daughters simply how to get along in a world that has been shaped by men and male desires, then they betray their daughters’ potential But, if they do not, they leave their daughters adrift in a hostile world without survival strategies.”
—Elizabeth Debold (20th century)