Elon Musk is Sending His Garbage Into Space (with All the Other Trash) ‹ Literary Hub | Space

The image most of us probably think of when we imagine Earth from outer space is that classic photo, The Blue Marble, taken from the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Floating majestically in a sea of infinite black, Earth sits pristinely against the background. That photo was taken from a space mission to land on the moon. Our image of Earth’s pure, unmarred place in the stark darkness of outer space is not quite as accurate these days.

We have been polluting Earth’s land and sea for decades, but since the launch of Sputnik 1—the first artificial satellite—in 1957, our trash has expanded to outer space. As humans travel further and more frequently into space, we leave more and more debris in our wake. From the tiniest flecks of paint to large defunct satellites, our orbital litter is beginning to pose real problems for the health of space and Earth as it becomes a rotating landfill above us. I believe outer space is just as entitled to its own health and well-being, even if it’s not a living, breathing ecosystem like ours.

It has become a tragedy of the commons: an unregulated public resource that becomes overused, depleted, or exploited due to individuals, corporations, or governments acting in their own self-interests, to the detriment of the common good. Earth’s orbit is now home to national space missions from dozens of…