Alisa Fominykh
Mr. Ippolito
Biology 10H D Odd
April 17, 2017
O'Brien, Jane. “The Race to Destroy Space Garbage.” BBC News, BBC, 8 Apr. 2017, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39521406. Accessed 16 Apr. 2017.
I read the article titled, “The Race to Destroy Space Garbage” in which the author Jane O’ Brien addresses the fact that pollution in space is also a reality. Over 23,000 pieces of space junk are large in enough in size to be tracked by the US Space Surveillance Network, implying they are greater than 4 inches in diameter. However, a majority are smaller than that, meaning they cannot be recorded, resulting in them also being a threat, despite their size. A result of the large quantities of space junk floating around collisions do occur, causing potentially hazardous situations. Of the 7,000 satellites currently in space, only 1,500 are working. In the next decade it is expected that 9,000 more will be added, thus only further increasing the possibility of collisions. In the past collisions have caused astronauts in space to evacuate capsules in order to escape harm. Collisions with satellites are harmful since a majority of modern day luxuries are a result of them, such as GPS, movie downloads, phone calls, internet and even national security. In recent years, military efforts have been taken to in order to observe more objects, thus better protect vital satellites and space stations.
This article was important since it exposed how humans are prone to pollution, even in space. Additionally, it exposed how pollution even not on the earth can be harmful, to our society. If a satellite were to be damaged it could result in technological dilemmas, not to mention the safety of individuals can be in peril, once it is put into account that national security is reliant on technology. On another note, this article emphasized how various modern commodities rely on satellites and space.
This article was thoroughly written and did a good job utilizing videos to emphasize how the quantity of space debris substantially increased over a period of more than 50 years. However, a fault within the article was that it did not address how the collisions could potentially result in debris falling to earth, thus causing more harm, rather than solely damage to satellites in orbit. Addressing this within the article would help stress the reasons as to how pollution in space is also physically harmful to Earth’s inhabitants. Finally, an improvement I recommend for this article would have to be for it to better explain how debris can be removed from space. Along with the particular technologies scientists are coming up with in order to perform such actions, rather than merely stating that there are no current methods of cleaning space.
Catie Burnell
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Core Biology Honors
April 25, 2017
My classmate Alisa Fominykh wrote an excellent review on the article “The Race to Destroy Space Garbage” by BBC’s Jane O’Brien. In her review, Alisa does a terrific job of stating the information of the article in a clear, concise way. Alisa also did a great job of explaining why this issue of pollution in outer space is a large problem for nearly everyone considering that this “space junk” affects everything from GPS technology to national security. Alisa also explained the strengths and weaknesses in O’Brien’s writing very well, which showed that she paid close attention to the article and analyzed it closely.
Although Alisa overall did a great job with her review, there are a couple of aspects upon which she could improve. It would have been beneficial if Alisa had provided some quotes from the article she reviewed so as to provide proof for her claims. Additionally, it would have been great if Alisa had expanded on her claim that “...this article emphasized how various modern commodities rely on satellites and space.” This seems like a very important point and I would have loved to have gained some more information on her from her review. All in all, though, Alisa wrote a concise and comprehensive review that I learned a lot from.
The main point that stood out to me from this article was the sheer amount of “space junk” that is currently in our solar system. While I knew that the Earth’s oceans were heavily polluted, I had no idea that such pollution occurred in space. O’Brien states in her article that “Even something the size of a paper clip can cause catastrophic damage,” which is a fascinating yet disturbing point. Overall this article was a very interesting read and I would love to learn more about this topic.
O'Brien, Jane. “The Race to Destroy Space Garbage.” BBC News, BBC, 8 Apr. 2017, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39521406. Web. Accessed 24 Apr. 2017.
Bailey Barton
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Biology; Current Event 10
May 2nd, 2017
Fominykh, Alisa. "Bronxville HS Core Biology." The Race to Destroy Space Garbage. N.p., 01 Jan. 1970. Web. 02 May 2017.
http://bhscorebio.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-race-to-destroy-space-garbage.html#comment-form
I read Alisa Fominykh review on “The Race to Destroy Space Garbage” in which she discussed the ongoing pollution in space which has recently been discovered. I found the review informative because Alisa gave specific details, for example, the known 23,000 pieces of space pollution in largely sized pieces. As for the smaller sized space garbage, they remain unaccounted for because their size is not able to be picked up by satellites in space. Besides giving fact of the amount of calculated pollution in space, Alisa also informed of the dangers of this pollution, including hazardous collisions. I found that it was important that Alisa elaborated on the dangers by telling about previous astronaut stories of being in a position of danger and needing to evacuate their capsules to become safe from colliding with pollution, which she did nicely.
Alisa wrote about informative videos which helped her to understand the situation at hand, an improvement in her own review could be a more descriptive representation of the space garbage itself i.e. how it moves, how its collisions reflect back on earth in terms of how collisions in space could have damage on earth. Alisa wrote about having trouble with this specific question, I believe it would be a good addition to further her research on how it will affect earth.
I chose to read this article because it closely relates to our own pollution situation on earth. I enjoyed reading about more of the effects of pollution, specifically in an environment without gravity.
Susie Goodell
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Core Biology
5/3/17
O'Brien, Jane. “The Race to Destroy Space Garbage.” BBC News, BBC, 8 Apr. 2017, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39521406. Accessed 16 Apr. 2017.
Current Events 10
For this current event, I read my classmate Alisa’s review of the article “The Race to Destroy Space Garbage” by Jane O’Brien. This article discusses the space garbage that exists as a result of pollution in space. Alisa did a great job explaining the many dangers of space garbage and how if they collide, they pose many dangers for our world. She also described what the pollution means for us as humans and shows the harmful effects of all pollution.
Alisa criticized the article well, identifying the important details that were left out of the article and therefore make it difficult for readers to understand the full topic. She wrote a well-informed, educational review of the article.
Despite the many great aspects of this review, I believe there are a few things that could be done to improve it. Alisa should have gone further in depth with ways to prevent the collisions or to clean up the space garbage. She mentions that the military is trying to identify more of them, but doesn’t acknowledge any other possible ways to protect satellites. Also, she should have added a quote from the article to support her claims. It would have made her review stronger and would have emphasized her point more. However, Alisa’s review was very well-written and powerful.
Before I read this review, I knew of the existence of space garbage, but I didn’t realize the many dangers it poses to our society. I was also shocked by the damage the garbage can make, even if it is not more than a few inches in diameter. From now on, I will stay updated on this topic and research what I can do to help prevent collisions and more pollution in space.
Julian Thomet
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Bio IH D135
3 May, 2017
O'Brien, Jane. “The Race to Destroy Space Garbage.” BBC News, BBC, 8 Apr. 2017,
www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39521406. Accessed 16 Apr. 2017.
Current Events 10
My classmate, Alisa Fominykh, wrote a current events review of the article “The Race to Destroy Space Garbage,” by Jane O’Brien. The article discussed the fact that pollution in space is also a problem. In general, this assignment was very well done. For one, it was very well written. All the information was to the point, and there were only a few grammatical issues, which makes it easier to understand the information. Another thing that Alisa did well was that she included a detailed section about the importance of this topic. By allowing us to understand that space pollution could be a big problem for our national security or our internet access, it made the topic more relatable. This way, it isn’t just a bunch of obscure information that we are being told. Finally, Alisa did a great job assessing the article honestly and giving suggestions on how it could have been better. This also allows people who are interested in the subject to continue researching these other questions, in the hopes of there being answers beyond the article.
One thing that Alisa could have done to improve her review would have been to include quotes. Although they aren’t essential to understanding the main points, quotes are very useful in emphasizing a point that one is making or providing examples of a statement about the article. This would allow the reader to get a sense of what the article was like to read. Another thing that Alisa could have done is mention what kind of efforts are underway to fix the problems that were laid out in her article. Although it is possible that this information was not included in the article, it would be nice to know if anything besides military monitoring is being done to fix the problem.
What truly struck me about this review was how susceptible we are to pollution and how dependent we are on technology. Much of what we do in our lives, including the writing of this very assignment, is dependent on satellites and technology that may be exposed to future pollution. If a disastrous event did occur, in which numerous satellites went down, our national security, and that of various other nations, would be in jeopardy. Although there is not an easily foreseeable which would allow us to decrease this dependency, this is an important problem, which must be taken care of urgently.