http://www.gizmag.com The Soviet Union launched the very first earth-orbiting satellite in 1957, and the world looked on in awe as Sputnik flashed through the sky. Fifty years later, you’d be lucky to see anything. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network says there are almost 20,000 man-made objects in orbit, ninety-four percent of which are non-functional debris. And that’s not counting the hundreds of thousands of bits of junk too small to track. Little wonder the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has put out a call for someone – anyone – to come up with a way to effectively remove orbital debris. en gizmag.com http://www.gizmag.com/pentagon-wants-orbital-space-debris-solution/13074/#comment-9280 http://www.gizmag.com/pentagon-wants-orbital-space-debris-solution/13074/#comment-9280 Sat, 10 Oct 2009 05:01:23 -0500 http://www.gizmag.com/pentagon-wants-orbital-space-debris-solution/13074/#comment-9265 http://www.gizmag.com/pentagon-wants-orbital-space-debris-solution/13074/#comment-9265 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:28:05 -0500 http://www.gizmag.com/pentagon-wants-orbital-space-debris-solution/13074/#comment-9259 http://www.gizmag.com/pentagon-wants-orbital-space-debris-solution/13074/#comment-9259 Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:28:06 -0500