conquering earth’s space junk problem

shrapnel

shards, fragments, debris, splinters

threaten

endanger, menace, jeopardize

altitude

height

human-made

man-made, artificial, created by humans

operator

controller, manager, handler

steer away

avoid, evade, divert

otherwise

alternatively, else, in another way

concern

worry, anxiety, distress

junk

trash, garbage, litter

objects

things

rising

increasing, growing, escalating

rapidly

quickly, swiftly, speedily

researcher

scientist, scholar, investigator

investigating

exploring, examining, researching

attacking

addressing, dealing with, tackling

assess

evaluate, analyzing, examine

efficiently

effectively, productively, competently

ever-more-crowded

increasingly congested, progressively crowded

compile

gather, collect, assemble

massive

huge, enormous, gigantic

taxonomies

classifications, categorizations.

properties

qualities

coming their way

will happen next

alternative

another option,a different choice

unthinkable

unrealistic, unimaginable, impossible

uncontrolled

unmanaged, out of control, chaotic

crash

collision, impact, accident

generate

produce, create, cause

set off

start

runaway cascade

means that once something bad starts happening, it keeps getting worse and worse very quickly,

fragments

pieces, shards, particles

render

make, transform, change

a point of no return

irreversible stage, critical threshold,unrecoverable point

monitor

observe, watch, track

collaborating

working together, cooperating, joining forces

shared

joint, mutual

guideline

instruction, rule, recommendation

inactivating

deactivating, disabling, turning off

pressurized

compressed, pressed, squeezed

leftover

a leftover part of something is the part that has not been used or eaten when the other parts have been

explosion

burst, blast, eruption

burn up

incinerate, combust, ignite

disintegrate

break apart, crumble, deêtriorate

abided by

followed, complied with, obeyed

steward

custodian, guardian, caretaker

enterprise

project, venture, initiative

bankrupt

insolvent, penniless, indebted

vastness

bigness, immensity, extent, enormity

tackle

address, deal with, confront

find out

discover, uncover, ascertain

precision

accuracy, exactness, rigor

alleviate

ease, reduce, mitigate

maneuvers

maneuvers, actions, movements

collisions

crashes, impacts, accidents

specialist

experts

astrodynamicist

a person who studies astrodynamics

astrodynamics

a way of talking about how things move in space. it's like understanding how rockets, satellites, and planets move around in the sky

line up

arrange in a straight row.

land

touchdown, arrival, descent

take off

departure, liftoff, launch

choreographed

planned, organized, arranged

accuracy

precision, exactness, reliability

tracked

monitored, followed, traced

consistently

continuously, reliably, persistently

authoritative catalog

an official and reliable list or record that provides accurate and trustworthy information about the orbits of all known space debris.

illustrate

demonstrate, show, depict

database

a collection of data stored

draw on

use something

visualize

form an image in a brain; imagine

identifier

label, name, code

designate

assign, identify, label

cross-correlate

compare, match, align

environmentalist

conservationist, green advocate, nature protector

devolving

deteriorating, declining, regressing