Why Space Junk Needs to be Taken Seriously

There’s a lot of junk floating around in space, everything from old leftover rocket boosters to penny-sized fragments. Then there’s the millions of tiny particles that are too small to be detected, traveling at high speeds through space. Junk in space isn’t a new problem but a just-published report by the National Research Council suggests it’s time to take it seriously and figure out how to clean it up. Marco Werman speaks with Donald Kessler, the retired senior scientist for NASA’s orbital debris program and a lead author of the new report.

Also, be sure to check out this week’s edition of The World’s Technology Podcast, which has more information on this topic.