Collision in Space

Space is not so infinite,
so pristine, so innocent.
we are filling it so quickly
with our toys, our guns,
our tools, our telescopes,
satellites tethered to our
human needs and desires.
Satellites race past each other
at breathtaking speeds,
each must follow their
prescribed paths through
the heavens, no
starry eyed wandering
through the universe looking
for love.
A Russian did that today,
his collision with the American
blew them both to smithereens,
we will see their tears
as shooting starts rain
down upon the earth.

Graph from NASA Orbital Debris Newsletter: http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/newsletter/pdfs/ODQNv13i1.pdf. Orbital debris is a serious problem in space, particularly at 800 km polar orbits. This area is of great interest to me in my work, as well as just being interesting in general. Some of the larger debris generated in this collision will fall through the earth’s atmosphere as shooting stars.