Surrounded By Junk
Since the dawn of the space age in the 1950s, thousands of satellites, spacecraft, and pieces of hi-tech junk remain spinning around the Earth. This space junk includes rocket boosters, which are bigger than a small apartment building, as well as pieces of lunar modules the size of a tractor trailer.
Besides these large objects, there is a variety of smaller pieces of junk in orbit. Such include, Astronaut Ed White’s dropped glove, Mike Collins’ lost Hasselblad camera, and an assortment of combs, screwdrivers and toothbrushes all sucked into space in past missions.
While many of these objects have re-entered Earth’s atmosphere and burned up, our planet is still surrounded by a halo of assorted junk.
In addition, countless small fragments remain in orbit. Each one of these could seriously damage a spacecraft or penetrate a space suit. A small paint chip left a one centimetre crater in a window in one of Challenger's flights.
When we consider fragments smaller than a millimetre, the numbers are huge. Literally hundreds of billions of tiny fragments make pits on satellites. When this debris collides with other space objects, it produces more fragments at an exponential rate, increasing the danger for future space travellers.
So next time you put out your trash, be thankful that it will stay where you put it.
It is amazing to think that such small pieces of space junk could cause so much damage. For example, people are usually concerned with chipped paint, not because of its potential for defacing other surfaces, but rather because of the resulting marred appearance or the loss of the protection it affords to the underlying materials. The paint chips themselves are not the problem: the lack of a flawless surface is. Yet, in the context of space, the flecks of paint or other fragments take on increased importance as they in effect become free-floating shrapnel.
So what we are considering is something small and insignificant which, under different circumstances, looms large and detrimental. A minor miscalculation, whether in engineering or accounting, becomes an unwieldy error under the weight of the building or in market forecasting. An acceptable gesture in one culture becomes the cause of offense when read by a person from a different cultural background.
Little things can indeed become larger than life. Sometimes we feel that a minor thing takes on significance as it is blown out of proportion. And that is indeed the case in many situations. Inflation and distortion do occur. But that is a different issue than the direct effect of a small thing operating under new conditions. In such situations, the seemingly insignificant plays out in a different frame of reference. It is on account of the context that such things are given greater scope, meaning and importance.
Sometimes a thing or event produces significant consequences because of its size. A government decision or a business investment would fall into this category.
As we have considered today, sometimes it is a small matter which is operating under different conditions which produces a significant effect. It is the match between the item and the context which allows for a larger effect than one would normally anticipate.
Yet there are other situations in which it is the very nature of the small thing which determines its imposing consequences. A microscopic virus, a moral flaw, an erroneous belief produce significant and harmful results. Their power resides not in size or context but in their very essence.
So, when you consider the little things in life, don’t let size deceive you. The consequences can be significant.
Waste disposal has become a sensitive political issue, especially when it comes to toxic waste. Nobody wants it in their back yard, but where else will we put it. Wherever we choose to dump it someone is likely to say, "Not in my back yard."
Isn't that just like life. Whatever we do always seems to effect so someone else. We cannot live in isolation. If we cut ourselves off from society, someone will be robbed of the contribution we could have made. If we become socially active, someone is sure to protest we are stepping on their rights. It has been said, "You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time."
It takes real life skill to navigate the pitfalls that confront us on a daily basis, but the effort to acquire these skills is worth it. Seeing others benefit from our positive efforts to help, is its own reward, even if we have to endure someone's displeasure along the way.
Sensitivity to the needs of others is one of the noble characteristics we most admire. While it is not always possible to avoid offending some people, being sensitive and caring will always win more friends than enemies.
Even if it is only seeing that our junk does not end up in someone else's back yard, or making a contribution when a neighbour's house burns down. Concern for others adds to our nobility of character.
Most of us are familiar with the story of the good Samaritan. A man was robbed and left to die. Two characters who should have known better passed by on the other side, refusing to let this man's need intrude into their busy schedules. The Samaritan, himself despised by many, was sensitive to the man's needs. At some cost to himself in time and money, he took the trouble to help another, and has been held up as an example ever since.
Your efforts may not be as dramatic, but how about doing something similar?
Debbie Hughes and Ron Hughes
© August 2004
