Even tools dropped by an astronaut. Scientists believe there are now half a million pieces of debris the size of a marble or bigger and each piece has the potential to do some serious damage. Last year the International Space station was hit. This chip in a window was caused when it was struck by a tiny fleck of paint. But the bigger pieces ofjunk are a more pressing problem. This european satellite, the size of a double decker bus, suddenly stopped working in 2012. Since then, its been circling the earth, threatening other key satellites in its path. The problem is going to grow. Its going to grow because collisions are going to take place in the orbital environment. Were going to lose the satellites that we rely on. Thats going to be costly to us, its going to be costly to the future generation. All eyes are now trained on the remove debris spacecraft. If the technology works, the hope is future missions can be scaled up and the space clean up can begin. Rebecca morelle, bbc news. Ne
Irans revolutionary guards warn demonstrators they face the iron fist of the state. Thousands of rail travellers face disruption as workers from two Train Companies stage 24 hour strikes. Good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. A seaplane has crashed into a river near sydney, killing all six people on board. Media reports say four of the victims were british, although this has not been confirmed. The plane went down in the Hawkesbury River close to the suburb of cowan. The single engine aircraft belonged to the well known Tourism Company sydney seaplanes. Police say it was on a sightseeing flight ahead of new Year Celebrations at Sydney Harbour. The bodies of five passengers and the pilot have been recovered from the wreckage. Unconfirmed reports say an 11 year old boy is among those killed. Officers say they dont yet know why the plane went down. For reasons that are not known at this stage, the plane had hit the water, and it has subsequently sunk. It is sitting in approximately 13 m