After watching the movie Gravity, write up your answers to these questions and turn them in.

1. Dr Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Lt Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) ran into problems because of space debris from a Russian satellite that was destroyed. Find out about space junk and the Kessler Effect by reading this article from WIRED. How do you feel after reading this? What's your reaction to this article? What other dangers might be caused by space debris?

2. This October a Swiss space company (Swiss Space Systems) had a news release about a plan they have using a small satellite to capture space junk and bring it down to the lower atmopshere. Read the article about it on Space.com. Do you think this is a feasiable plan? Does it look realistic in light of how much space junk there is out there?

3. Visit Nasa's website describing their Debris Program. Look through the images showing different views of the debris orbiting Earth. Are you suprised at the amount of debris, or where it is? Browse the five pages describing Nasa's program. Espcially look at the Reentry page. Do you think you are in much danger?

4. Was the movie realistic? Which parts do you think were "real" and which were "Hollywood"? Read over this blog post from Discover Magazine to find out what real and what's not. What is your reaction to this post? Were the things you thought were real, real?