1. humanity's stuff in space:
save? ignore? delete?
Kathryn Denning
York University
Vanguard 1 – still in orbit. Launched early 1958 by the US, after Explorer 1 achieved orbit. (Explorer 1 became America's first satellite on January 31, 1958)

2. Monthly Number of Catalogued Objects in Earth Orbit by Object Type.
n.b. ‘Fragmentation’ = satellite breakup and anomalous event debris, as opposed to ‘mission-related’ debris, which is intentional. Source: Orbital Debris Quarterly News, vol 10 issue 2, April NASA. Catalogued by U.S. Space Surveillance Network.

3. Objects in Low Earth Orbit –
approximately 95% of objects are orbital debris rather than functional satellites.
(dots not to scale!)
Source: NASA
LEO stands for low Earth orbit and is the region of space within 2,000 km of the Earth's surface. It is the most concentrated area for orbital debris.
The following graphics are computer generated images of objects in Earth orbit that are currently being tracked. Approximately 95% of the objects in this illustration are orbital debris, i.e., not functional satellites. The dots represent the current location of each item. The orbital debris dots are scaled according to the image size of the graphic to optimize their visibility and are not scaled to Earth. These images provide a good visualization of where the greatest orbital debris populations exist. Below are the graphics generated from different observation points.

4. Objects in Geosynchronous Orbit
~ km altitude
Again, mostly orbital debris
Source: NASA
The GEO images are images generated from a distant oblique vantage point to provide a good view of the object population in the geosynchronous region (around 35,785 km altitude). Note the larger population of objects over the northern hemisphere is due mostly to Russian objects in high-inclination, high-eccentricity orbits.

5. Objects in Geosynchronous Orbit
Polar view
Source: NASA
The GEO Polar images are generated from a vantage point above the north pole, showing the concentrations of objects in LEO and in the geosynchronous region.

6. http://www. orbitaldebris. jsc. nasa
On 21 January 2001, a Delta 2 third stage, known as a PAM-D (Payload Assist Module - Delta), reentered the atmosphere over the Middle East. The titanium motor casing of the PAM-D, weighing about 70 kg, landed in Saudi Arabia about 240 km from the capital of Riyadh.

7. http://www. orbitaldebris. jsc. nasa. gov/photogallery/photogallery
View of an orbital debris hole made in the panel of the Solar Max experiment.

8. http://www. orbitaldebris. jsc. nasa
An impact that completely penetrated the antenna dish of the Hubble Space Telescope.

9. http://www. orbitaldebris. jsc. nasa. gov/photogallery/photogallery
Window pit from orbital debris on STS-007.
Space Shuttle Challenger mission 1983, lasted 6 days

10. Rt: panel from Long Duration Exposure Facility, after being in LEO in 5.7 years, until Jan 1990
Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was left in low Earth orbit (LEO) for 5.7 years before being retrieved by space shuttle Columbia in January 1990.
A close-up view of a panel from the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) spacecraft.

11. http://www. orbitaldebris. jsc. nasa. gov/photogallery/photogallery
Solid rocket motor (SRM) slag. Aluminum oxide slag is a byproduct of SRMs. Orbital SRMs used to boost satellites into higher orbits are potentially a significant source of centimeter sized orbital debris. This piece was recovered from a test firing of a Shuttle solid rocket booster.
Paint flakes captured by Mir Environmental Effects Payload (MEEP).

13. Example of an orbital debris optical telescope system
Air Force Maui Optical and Supercomputing (AMOS) site. This optical sensor suite includes the 3.67 m Advance Electro-Optical System (AEOS) telescope, a 1.6 m telescope, two 1.2 m telescopes, and three 1 m Ground Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance (GEODSS) telescope installation.

14. Example of an orbital debris radar
Kiernan Reentry Measurement Site (KREMS) located on Kwajalein Atoll. Four radars are visible: ALCOR (ARPA-Lincoln C-band Observables Radar), TRADEX (Target Resolution and Discrimination EXperiment), MMW (MilliMeter Wave), and ALTAIR (ARPA Long-range Tracking and and Instrumentation Radar) .

15. Example of Orbital Debris Radar
70 m Goldstone antenna located near Barstow, CA. When operated as a bi-static radar, Goldstone is capable of detecting 2 mm debris at altitudes below 1,000 km.

16. Effective number of LEO objects, 10 cm and larger, from simulation by J.-C. Liou and N.L. Johnson. Best-case scenario based on assumption of no new launches after 1 Jan Source: Orbital Debris Quarterly News, vol 10 issue 2, April NASA, and Science 20 Jan 2006.

17. Apollo 11 launch.
Back in the good old days when the skies were tidier.

18.
Moon with landing sites from Russian Luna (red), American Apollo (green), American Surveyor (yellow).
Rangers and other impact craft, and crashes, not listed.
List of spacecraft still sitting intact on the Moon.

19. STILL OUT THERE…. From top left, by row: Ranger 4, impact 1962
Not the best source perhaps, but…
Number of Spacecraft still sitting intact on the Moon: 19, including 5 Lunar Rovers (3 US and 2 USSR) . And more…
Ranger 4, impact craft, crashed 1962, no data (stopped functioning mid-flight)
Ranger 7, impact 1964 (by design), first images by US
Luna 9, Russian, 1966, still on Moon
Surveyor, US, 1966, still on Moon
Luna 13, USSR, 1966, still on Moon
Luna 16, USSR, 1970, part of it still on Moon
Luna 17 /Lunakhod 1, lander/rover, both still on Moon, 1970 (first rover, worked nearly a year)
Lunakhod 2 rover, 1973, still there with lander, travelled 37 km
And out there… Luna 1, a flyby in 1959, now in heliocentric orbit.
__Missions with stages or rovers still there (deliberately)__
1967 – Surveyor 3, 5, 6, still on Moon
1968, Surveyor 7
1969, Parts of Apollo 11 and 12
1971 – Apollo 14, 15, parts still there
1972, Luna 20, Apollo 16, Apollo 17, parts still there
1973 Luna 21/Lunakhod 2, parts/rover still there
1974 Luna 23, still there
1976 Luna 24 stage still there
------Crashed on Moon
(some impact by design)
1962, Ranger 4 (first one to make it there)
Various other Rangers
Various Luna orbiters (orbital decay, or crash)
1966 US Lunar orbiter (crashed eventually, orbital decay)
Etc…
And 1990 Japan
1998 US Lunar Prospector (deliberate orbital decay after 18 months orbit/survey)
All in all – 107 moon missions. Lots left pieces there. Some are probably still in lunar orbit, others in heliocentric orbit.
STILL OUT THERE…. From top left, by row:
Ranger 4, impact 1962
Ranger 7, impact 1964, first US moon images
Luna 9, USSR, 1966
Surveyor, US, 1966
Luna 13, USSR, 1966
Luna 16, USSR, 1970
Luna 17/Lunakhod 1, USSR lander + first rover, 1970
Lunakhod 2 rover, 1973, + lander
Luna 1, USSR flyby in 1959, now in heliocentric orbit

20.
See also
For many more apollo maps.

21. Probable artifact locations at Tranquility Base. Lunar Legacy Project.

22. Plaque left on the moon surface as part of the Apollo 11 mission.
(It would be so nice if all archaeological sites were helpfully labelled for posterity like this.)
This plaque was left on the Moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts. It says "Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the Moon July 1969, A.D. We came in peace for all mankind."

23. Venera 9, 1975, the first to take pictures of Venus’ surface
Seen above, the six-foot-tall Venera 9 lander was the first to take pictures of the surface, on October 20, The Venera orbiter and lander was a 10,000-pound spacecraft, one of the largest unmanned vehicles ever sent into space. Besides the camera system, the Venera landers measured the sky spectrum, atmospheric gases, cloud particles, and performed chemical analysis of surface rocks.
Venera 9, 1975, the first to take pictures of Venus’ surface

24.
Viking 1 First Camera 1 Panorama of Chryse Planitia on Mars
This is the first panoramic image of Chryse Planitia taken by camera 1 on the Viking 1 Lander. The image was taken on 23 July 1976, three days after Viking 1 landed. The meteorology boom is at the center of the image and to the left is the support for the high-gain dish antenna. The bright area to the left is the late afternoon Sun in the west. The bright horizontal lines in the sky are not clouds, they are caused by internal reflections in the camera housing. Features on the horizon are about 3 km away. The dark rock at the center of the frame, nicknamed "Big Joe", is about 3 meters across and 8 meters from the lander. The center of the frame shows fine grained material forming a small dune field. The material forms horseshoe shaped scour marks and wind tails around the rocks, which are about 10 cm across. (Viking 1 Lander, P-17428)

25. http://nssdc. gsfc. nasa
Color view of Chryse Planitia looking NW over the Viking 1 Lander
Viking 1 Lander image of Chryse Planitia looking over the lander. The large white object at lower left and center, with the American flag on the side, is the radiothermal generator (RTG) cover. The high-gain S-band antenna is at upper right. The view, from 22 N, 50 W, is to the northwest. Chryse Planitia is a wide, low plain covered with large rocks and loose sand and dust. The image was taken on 30 August 1976, a little over a month after landing. (Viking 1 Lander, 12B069)

26. Sojourner, part of Pathfinder mission, worked for a while but then lost contact…

27. Surprised the heck out of some people.
Above: Andrea Aletti of the Schiaparelli Astronomical Observatory captured this 10-minute exposure of J002E3 gliding among the stars of the constellation Taurus on Sept. 17th. J002E3 rotates or tumbles every minute or so, which causes the brightness variations shown in the picture.
That's what University of Arizona astronomers found on Sept. 12th when they measured the spectrum of sunlight reflected from J002E3. "The colors were consistent with ... white titanium dioxide paint--the type of paint NASA used on Apollo moon rockets 30 years ago," says Carl Hergenrother, who conducted the study with colleague Robert Whiteley.
So, J002E3 might be a spacecraft after all--an old one from Earth. Where has it been all these years?
"Orbiting the Sun," answers Chodas. "I've traced the motion of J002E3 backwards in time to find out where it's been," he explains. Apparently, J002E3 left Earth in 1971, went around the Sun 30 or so times, and came back again. Chodas, a expert in planetary motion who has seen plenty of complicated orbits, says "I've never seen anything like this."
Another possibility is that J002E3 is an S-IVB from Apollo 12. Unlike Apollo 14, Apollo 12's S-IVB did not crash into the Moon. The crew jettisoned it on Nov. 15, 1969, when it was nearly out of fuel. Once the astronauts were safely away, ground controllers ignited the S-IVB's engine. They meant to send the 60-ft-long tank into a Sun-centered orbit, but something went wrong; the burn lasted too long. Instead of circling the Sun, the S-IVB entered a barely-stable orbit around the Earth and Moon "much like the current orbit of J002E3," notes Chodas.
Eventually, the Apollo 12 S-IVB vanished--no one knows when. Perhaps gravitational tugs from the Sun and Moon accumulated until they nudged the engine away from Earth in In this scenario, it would have circled the Sun for 31 years until it was re-captured by Earth's gravity in 2002.
"It's plausible," says Chodas, "but still speculative."
Whatever J002E3 is, it's taking a fantastic journey through the solar system--and it's not done yet. Chodas' calculations indicate that J002E3 will leave Earth again in June 2003 to resume its orbit around the Sun. "Thirty years from now," he notes, "it might come back again.“
If it does, perhaps it will be greeted by human explorers on regular "milk runs" between the Earth and Moon. They might detour briefly and discover, once and for all, what J002E3 really is: a historical attraction, maybe, or something wholly unexpected....

28. Space Heritage Task Force of the World Archaeological Congress
2004 onwards
Some of our objectives:
* Identify examples of places, sites, and objects that have exceptional cultural value and whose preservation will benefit all humankind
* Propose a set of cultural, historical, social and scientific criteria for preserving space heritage places of exceptional cultural heritage value
* Investigate avenues for preservation within existing legal frameworks, e.g. World Heritage Convention
* Figure out which institutions might support programs of preservation / protection

29. 2004 - Space Shuttle Columbia Crew memorial on Mars, at the site of the Mars Spirit rover landing.
Columbia memorial plaque on Mars
Space Shuttle Columbia Crew Memorialized on Mars January 6, 2004
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe today announced plans to name the landing site of the Mars Spirit rover in honor of the astronauts who died in the tragic accident of the Space Shuttle Columbia in February. The area in the vast flatland of the Gusev Crater where Spirit landed this weekend will be called the Columbia Memorial Station.
Since its historic landing, Spirit has been sending extraordinary images of its new surroundings on the red planet over the past few days. Among them, an image of a memorial plaque placed on the spacecraft to Columbia's astronauts and the STS-107 mission.
The plaque is mounted on the back of Spirit's high-gain antenna, a disc-shaped tool used for communicating directly with Earth. The plaque is aluminum and approximately six inches in diameter. The memorial plaque was attached March 28, 2003, at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Chris Voorhees and Peter Illsley, Mars Exploration Rover engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., designed the plaque.
"During this time of great joy for NASA, the Mars Exploration Rover team and the entire NASA family paused to remember our lost colleagues from the Columbia mission. To venture into space, into the unknown, is a calling heard by the bravest, most dedicated individuals," said NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe." As team members gazed at Mars through Spirit's eyes, the Columbia memorial appeared in images returned to Earth, a fitting tribute to their own spirit and dedication. Spirit carries the dream of exploration the brave astronauts of Columbia held in their hearts."
Spirit successfully landed on Mars Jan. 3. It will spend the next three months exploring the barren landscape to determine if Mars was ever watery and suitable to sustain life. Spirit's twin, Opportunity, will reach Mars on Jan. 25 to begin a similar examination of a site on the opposite side of the planet.
A copy of the image is available on the Internet at:

30. from Laetoli to other worlds
moon
And Laetoli, 3.6 mya, A. afarensis, Ethiopia
Humanity’s story
from Laetoli to other worlds

31. Questions for you – as scholars, citizens of nation(s) and the world, and human beings:
What categories of objects or sites do you think should be preserved? (If any.) Why?
In general, what should the criteria (cultural, historical, scientific) be for identifying exceptionally important objects or sites?