http://films18p.narod.ru/

Why get even that involved? In situations like this (the crew is outside already, after all) they should always have thruster packs available to retrieve lost objects…or each other.

It's not as if we don't have experience with such things….

The problem is, it's very hard to position something *exactly* motionless with ones' self in free fall and vacuum. If there's even the *slightest* residual motion when you let go, it will continue to drift in that direcrtion. Down here, friction of one kind or another covers that up.

Remember whe we were considering a person getting 'stuck' in the midle of a large pressurized inclosure in space? In that case, air friction *will* tend to slow a gently moving object to a stop, espically if there's no forced ventilation (though there likely would be…I recall that loose stuff in Skylab tended to end up at the ventilation intake screen).

But outside the ship, only Newton's laws, and perhaps infinitesmal radiation pressure apply (and even then, depending on the altitude of one's orbit, there's still minute traces of the atmosphere whose drag will *eventually* de-orbit stuff).

Imagine the possibilities for reality shows; "World's most Fumbling Astronauts".

Despite the humour I found in this event, I greatly admire and respect the astronauts. This remarkable group of men and women are humankind's representatives in space and eventually other worlds. Therefore, a little of all of us is up there.

You also said "So you want to yell at someone, don't yell at NASA, yell at the private ventures throwing things into space.",

As far as I know, no private venture has something place into low-earth orbit.

Yet again this is just another example of "all care and no responsibility attitude". Perhaps someone needs to yell at NASA and the American Media just to wake them up to reality.

All I see is you are just wanting blaming every one else and avoiding the real responsibility regarding the American astronaut who did the deed. If it were a Russian, European or Chinese that did it, my response would be exactly the same.

Note: You also fail to mention the same arrogant problem recently made by NASA who also threw into space the "Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS)", which happened to fall over Australia and crash into its territory.
(Read 3rd November 2008 “ISS Space Junk Re-Entered Without Incident, 550km South of Australia (Updated)”)
Here we see the same usual careless insensitive American cultural attitude – who cares as long as it isn't in my own backyard.

Are you just acting stupid, or were you raised in ignorance and do not know the meaning of "redneck": an ugly term used to describe whites?
Or are you going to paraphrase Sen. Byrd and say that there are black rednecks too?

Sorry. America is a country not a race. Hence calling me for stating a radical slur in inaccurate and clearly wrong.
The truth is their are some Americans are indeed parochial to the extent that they consider the rest of the world as either insignificant or irrelevant. When they don't get their way instead they act and spit poison like some Benzedrine puff adder either resorting to verbal insults or profanity.
Again, thank you for your kind words.

Nice touch adding racial slurs to the conversation, asshole.

So, getting ticked off would accomplish…what?

It becomes one more thing to track and watch out for. It was not intentional. Deal with it.

BTW… I'm not a red neck American. However we can see by your rants…. all you do is hate. Apparently from some sort of inferiority complex. Begin to hate yourself… for deflecting your original stupidity with a bunch of postings.

You said; "Nobody is "free" of this, and it cannot be avoided."

This is clearly wrong. Yes, much of it can be avoided.
I suggest you read the earlier "Universe Today" article by Nancy Atkinson written on "Space Debris Illustrated: The Problem in Pictures"
Here Nancy says;

"Officials from the space shuttle program have said the shuttle regularly takes hits from space debris, and over 80 windows had to be replaced over the years. The ISS occasionally has to take evasive maneuvers to avoid collisions with space junk. And of course, this debris is not just sitting stationary: in orbit, relative velocities can be quite large, ranging in the tens of thousands of kilometers per hour."

She quotes directly from the ESA (which ain't American r Russian";
"…the most probable relative velocity between the satellite and a debris object is 52,000 kilometers per hour. If a debris objects hits a satellite, the ISS or the Shuttle, at those speeds it could cause severe damage or catastrophe."

As to mitigation of these circumstances she quotes;;;
"The ESA says it is crucial to start immediately to implement mitigation measures."
"The issue is that such mitigation measures cost fuel and operational time, and therefore they increase cost. In the commercial world, this may competitiveness, unless there is an international consensus to accept such costs."
The true problem is collision BETWEEN satellites and space junk already there, with the catastrophe.1

Fraser Cain "Universe Today" on 14th March "When Will Space Traffic Control Be Necessary?" says;
"There's a building consensus that space debris is becoming a real threat to future space launches. The more material up there, the better chance it could collide with future spacecraft and stations. And there's a worry that the density of space debris could reach some dangerous point where it collides and re-collides until a band of space becomes a shrieking hail of tiny particles moving at high velocity. No spacecraft could withstand passing through that region without being torn to shreds."

As to space law, "Universe Today" on 17th January 2008 says;

"Space law would be concerned with four areas: keeping tabs on the current space traffic, a system of notification between nations or companies planning launches and missions to space, comprehensive rules for traffic to follow and a way to enforce these rules."

Some current "space laws" under international agreement were created in the U.N. Yet even the same January reference says;

"Possibilities include the creation of World Space Organization, or placing the responsibilities on the shoulders of the existing International Civil Aviation Organization, which currently regulates the skies closer to Earth."

So it comes back to the issue of my original assertion;

"Also pleased to see the usual "so what" attitude of the NASA and the general media. Oops! Oh Dear. Doesn't matter… Like Hell it doesn't!"

As Tommaso Sgobba said (as quoted in Universe Today; 24 Feb 2008);

"Failure to act now to regulate space to protect property and human life would be pure folly."

So at least I'm not the only putz here (as you so eloquently put it.)

Note: Redneck Parochial Americans. I really do hate them…

No responsibility? I suppose this is largely a subjective definition… however like I said before, nobody stands to lose more, and every country which launches something into space… leaves garbage in space. This is from boosters, dead satellites, uncontrollables etc. Nobody is "free" of this, and it cannot be avoided.

Responsibility… The United States spends a lot of money in order to track objects orbiting earth, and they share this information with other nations. The Russians have some ability to do this as well, but do not have the same coverage or ability to get smaller objects.

….responsibility… let your tirade is a lot worse than mine. You mindlessly blurt the obvious and damn people without full knowledge of the subject… as if the whole world doesn't know about space junk and does nothing about it. Your are wrong… they know about it, and things are done.. perhaps not to your satisfaction, but to suggest the UN police space traffic is about as intelligent as having Iran police human rights.

…so yes, you're a putz.

Shame on you to suggest otherwise!

Note: As for the childish Yiddish insult of calling someone a "putz" only just magnifies my point.

Also, the UN cannot enforce anything other than overpaying their own people to solve nothing.

…plus it isn't like the astronaut was outright negligent. A grease gun exploded, getting all over the bag, tools and the astronaut. Her first priority being the preservation of the space suit, she began cleaning it, and while paying attention to detail to the item which allowed her to live… the bag floated away.

If you were in this situation, you wouldn't pay much attention to the bag either… you want to ensure you get the grease off of your suit before something fouls, fails, becomes contaminated or jammed up.
oh…and moving around in a pressurized space suit in near zero gravity, isn't exactly a piece of cake….putz.

At any rate, I think a nice small Remote Controlled Robot would be pretty cool for retrieving dropped stuff like this without risking loss of a person, of course then you have the potential for the Robot to become drifting Space Junk, but I digress.