The following letter was answered by sending me a copy of REPORT ON ORBITAL DEBRIS by Interagency Group(Space) for National Security Council, Wash. DC.
That's sort of typical of the Government, isn't it? We did a report on it, so now the problem's been handled.
Dear R... J...:
I am sending you a letter I recently had published in my local newspaper and which I have also forwarded to our President and Vice President. It concerns SPACE DEBRIS. I have found that very few people are even aware that a crises exists!
I would like to know what NASA is doing:
1) To reduce the introduction of new space debris.
2) To calculate the actual size of the problem now.
3) To project what it is likely to become 50, 100, 500, 1000, 10000, and 100000 years from now if we continue behaving the way we are now.
4) What REAL solutions is NASA considering, and what tests are being conducted to ensure that those solutions will work.
5) Why are space shuttle flights NOW not collecting space debris, at least on a "catch as catch can" basis and coming back to earth with as full a load as possible?
A proper analysis of the problem requires complex mathematical models including chaos theory and would surely need to be done on a supercomputer. It is probably beyond the scope of a single individual, certainly this individual, but the existence of a problem should be clear to anyone who cares to do even a brief philosophical analysis.
Thank you in advance for your attention and I look forward to hearing from you or from someone at NASA.
Sincerely,
Russell Hoffman,
The Animated Software Company
From EXAMPLES IN THE ART OF COMPLAINING by Russell D. Hoffman
Table of Contents
The Animated Software Company
http://www.animatedsoftware.com
rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com
Last modified March 27th, 1997.
Webwiz: Russell D. Hoffman
Copyright (c) Russell D. Hoffman