NASA Satellites Face Increased Risks from Space Debris, Impacting Climate Data
NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites, including Aqua, Terra, and Aura, are increasingly at risk from space debris, which has necessitated evasive maneuvers that sometimes result in corrupted climate data. Since 2005, the EOS fleet has had to dodge space debris on at least 32 occasions, consuming precious fuel and potentially compromising data integrity. Aqua, a key satellite in the fleet, has completed over 126,000 orbits and contributed to more than 30,000 scientific publications. However, the growing amount of space debris poses a significant threat to the continuation of such vital climate data collection.