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Here's our latest English reading article. Read the story first, then take a look at the vocabulary notes at the bottom if you need to.

Too much rubbish in outer space

          A 182-page report by the United States National Research Council warns that the amount of debris in space is reaching "a tipping point", and could cause damage to satellites or spacecraft.The report calls for regulations to reduce the amount of debris, and suggests that scientists increase research
into methods to remove some of the debris from orbit, though it makes no recommendations about how to do so.
           A statement released along with the report warns that, according to some computer models, the debris "has reached a tipping point, with enough currently in orbit to continually collide and create even more debris, raising the risk of spacecraft failures". According to the Satellite Industry Association, there are now about 1,000 working satellites in Earth orbit, and industry revenues last year were US$168 billion (£104.33 billion, €119.01 billion).
               The debris consists of various objects, such as decommissioned satellites and exhausted boosters, but the vast majority of the particles are less than one centimetre across. 16,094 pieces of debris were being tracked as of July, although estimates put the current number at over 22,000. The total number of fragments is thought to be as high as tens of millions. While most of the debris is very small, some of it is travelling at speeds as high as 17,500 mi h-1 (28,164 km h-1; 7,823.3 m s-1).
                The International Space Station sometimes has to dodge larger fragments, and in June its crew was forced to prepare to evacuate due to a close encounter with debris.

English Vocabulary Notes

debris = rubbish
tipping point = point at which we can no longer go back
collide = smash into
revenues = money earned
vast = huge
fragment = small piece
dodge = get out of the way of



 Posted by ; Chiisai Inori (Heni Paramita I)
Source ; http://www.english-at-home.com/reading/