Recently, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) were ordered to take refuge in the emergency Soyuz spacecraft in case it became necessary to evacuate. The reason? You probably guessed from the title: space junk. The debris in question passed within 9 miles of the ISS! Now, 9 miles might not sound like a near collision to you, but (as the article linked below points out) when you’re orbiting the Earth at about 17,500 miles per hour, that’s a pretty close call. Furthermore, the debris became problematic because it wasn’t detected until it was much too late to move the ISS into a different orbit. The issue of debris in orbit of the Earth has become a real concern over the past decade as the amount of debris seems to be increasing with no end in sight. Various space agencies and private companies have discussed methods for removing the debris safely and cleaning up the neighbourhood so to speak, but in the meantime the best we can do is track it and make sure that near misses (or worse) don’t happen.

News source: The Telegraph