A private Japanese company has taken the world's first close-up photo of an individual piece of space debris, by parking another satellite next to it in orbit. This orbital photo op is the first step in an ongoing mission to capture and destroy potentially hazardous pieces of space junk that are clogging up our sky.
There is currently more than 9,900 tons of space junk hanging out in Earth's orbit. That debris is a veritable minefield for newly launched satellites and spacecraft; even a tiny piece of debris can tear a hole through a spacecraft with enough momentum. It can even pose a threat to people on the ground when it falls from orbit. And the longer that space debris stays in orbit, the more it multiplies.
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