A meteor photobombed the patch of sky containing Comet Lemmon on Oct. 24, wrapping it in a glowing trail.
Low Earth orbit might seem like empty space, but for the thousands of satellites circling our planet between 95 and 1,900 km up, it's actually a surprisingly hostile environment. Every moment, these spacecraft are bombarded by highly reactive oxygen atoms that corrode their surfaces, while collisions with atmospheric molecules create drag that gradually pulls them back toward Earth. Most satellites last only about five years before these relentless forces take their toll, and the spacecraft tumbles back through the atmosphere. Now, a team at the University of Texas in Dallas is developing a protective coating that could fundamentally change how long satellites survive in orbit.
