What term describes the exponential increase in future collision risk following a collision between two large, defunct objects?
Answer
Kessler Syndrome
The danger posed by space debris is that collisions are not isolated events; they are multiplicative. When two substantial objects collide, they shatter into thousands of new, untrackable, and non-maneuverable pieces of debris. Each new fragment adds to the overall collision probability for every other object sharing that orbital shell. This chain reaction scenario, where one collision breeds many more collisions, is known by the specific term Kessler Syndrome. This process severely threatens the long-term usability of key orbital regions.
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