Space Junk

The Dangers of Polluting Earth's Orbit

  • Interest Level: Grade 6 - Grade 12
  • Reading Level: Grade 8

Scientists have identified at least 100 million pieces of space debris—from paint chips to nonoperational zombie satellites—floating in Earth’s orbit. And over 100 tons of those pieces enter Earth’s atmosphere each year!

Journey into outer space and learn about the dangers of space junk collisions, how scientists track them, and how space agencies are working to develop new technologies to clean up the space junk. Along the way, you’ll hear from the scientists who are working to ensure that outer space remains a safe place to travel and explore. If we don’t tackle the space junk problem, it might be impossible to travel into space; it could even trap us on Earth.

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978-1-4677-5600-6
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Interest Level Grade 6 - Grade 12
Reading Level Grade 8
Genre Science, Young Adult
Category STEM, STEM: Space Science
Copyright 2016
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Imprint Twenty-First Century Books ™
Language English
Number of Pages 64
Publication Date 2016-01-01
Reading Counts! Level 12.6
Text Type Informational/Explanatory
BISACS YAN050020, YAN055010
Dewey 629.4'16
Dimensions 6 x 9
Lexile 1220
Features Bibliography/further reading, Charts/Graphs/Diagrams, Index, Reviewed, Source notes, Starred Reviews, and Table of contents

Author: Karen Romano Young

Karen Romano Young has dived to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in a tiny submarine, crunched through Arctic ice in an icebreaker, and visited labs, museum workshops, and research institutions across the U.S. to write and draw about science. She was a lead science communications fellow aboard Dr. Robert Ballard's research ship E/V Nautilus. Karen has written and/or illustrated more than 30 books for children and is the creator of Humanimal Doodles, a science comic. Her nonfiction books include Try This! and Try This Extreme! (National Geographic). Her fiction work includes The Beetle and Me: A Love Story; the graphic novel Doodlebug: a Novel in Doodles; and Hundred Percent. Her next book for Twenty-First Century Books is Whale Quest. Karen lives with her family in the woods of Bethel, Connecticut. Her next adventure is a stint at Palmer Station, Antarctica, as the recipient of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Artists and Writers Grant. She has not yet traveled to space.

Reviews

Booklist

“Clearly written and concise, the book lays out the problem without sensationalizing it, while including human-interest details. . . . A natural for booktalking to STEM-minded kids, this slender volume belongs in many libraries.”—Booklist

School Library Journal

“A great cover beckons readers inside what should be a fascinating tour of the space around Earth—and it is. . . . There is little else available for students about this important topic for future space engineers.”—School Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

“Between her well-tempered writing style and her atypical subject, Young will have readers enthralled.”—starred, Kirkus Reviews