Get the latest tech news

Could Earthquake Sensors Help Detect Falling Space Junk?


An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post: Scientists have found that using seismometers is a new and inexpensive method to detect falling space junk, which can cause damage on impact and carry toxic materials — and may someday turn deadly... It's not an easy task to...

An anonymous reader shared this report from the Washington Post: Scientists have found that using seismometers is a new and inexpensive method to detect falling space junk, which can cause damage on impact and carry toxic materials — and may someday turn deadly... Ground-based radar can detect falling objects, but it doesn't cover much of the world or is often classified data, said Ben Fernando [a planetary scientist at Johns Hopkins University who is leading this research]. Fernando first tested the idea to track the controlled reentry of NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission in September 2023, which brought back material from the asteroid Bennu.

Get the Android app

Or read this on Slashdot

Read more on:

Photo of earthquake sensors

earthquake sensors

Photo of falling space junk

falling space junk