Part 6/15:
The incident highlights the broader problem of space debris cluttering Earth's orbit. Decades of space activity have left a trail of defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, and leftover fragments—a dangerous debris field that escalates collision risks. Notably, in 2022, two large, abandoned space vehicles—one Soviet and one American—passed within just 500 feet of each other, exemplifying the hazardous congestion in low Earth orbit.