Hurtling space junk

Sounds like we need to move towards a sustainable astronautics

MONTREAL - Man-made space particles as small as a cornflake could take out a spacecraft in the skies or anybody on the ground who strays into its path, cosmic experts from around the globe warned on Thursday.

Hurtling space junk has been deemed a growing extraterrestrial threat to humankind, prompting a group of space gurus to descend on Montreal this week to consider what to do about the potentially dangerous debris.

"They travel at the speed of about eight or nine kilometres per second - that's almost 10 times the speed of a bullet from a gun," said Ram Jakhu, a professor at McGill University, which is hosting the three-day congress on the high-flying hazards.

"So, they are naturally very dangerous."