Orbital debris is any human-made object in orbit about the Earth that no longer serves a useful function. Such debris includes nonfunctional spacecraft, abandoned launch vehicle stages, mission-related debris, and fragmentation debris.
Vanguard 1[1], designed to test the launch capabilities of a three-stage launch vehicle as a part of Project Vanguard, and the effects of the space environment on a satellite and its systems in Earth orbit was launched by the USA on March 17, 1958, is the oldest piece of space junk. It stopped operating in 1964 but will continue orbiting Earth for 240 years.
The physical limitations of railroad tunnels, narrow roads, low bridges, and power lines make overland shipment of oversized cargo extremely problematic, if not impossible. NASA’s Super Guppy offers a practical and economical solution to these problems.
The Aero Spacelines Super Guppy (SG) is a large, wide-bodied cargo aircraft that is used for hauling outsized cargo components. It is the replacement for the Pregnant Guppy.
