Space Debris: The Sky Is Falling
Imagine yourself taking an early morning walk in Tulsa, Oklahoma only to see a “big bright light, like a fire” in the sky. The object continues to get bigger as it approaches overhead. A few minutes later, you feel a gentle tap on your shoulder. You look around only to find a light piece of charred metal, about the size of your hand. You’ve been hit! Impossible you say? Just ask Lottie Williams of Tulsa, Oklahoma about her early morning walk on January 22, 1997. The metal mesh-like fragment which hit her came from a rocket that had been used to put a satellite into orbit for the U.S. Air Force in 1996. After nine months in space, a fuel tank from the rocket crashed into an empty field in Texas. The fragment which hit Williams on the shoulder came fr...