One is the less-than-miniscule but not-very-likely possibility that an asteroid could hit the Earth in 2182. This isn't something that I or anybody else living today has to worry about witnessing, but in the interests of the great-grandchildren, it's probably prudent to consider getting a better handle on this. Apparently this particular rogue rock is under consideration as a near-Earth-asteroid mission target.
Researchers say asteroid has 1-in-1000 chance of hitting Earth
Two is the problem of Envisat; the biggest environmental satellite in orbit. The problem is that Envisat will eventually go defunct, and it has pieces that can break off, and having something run into this behemoth is unacceptable. So its managers are considering a boost mission (it doesn't have enough maneuvering propellant for any useful higher-orbit-calling). But this would cost a lot of money, and there's some balking going on. I ask: wouldn't you balk more at the prospect of this thing either a) hitting something in space, or b) re-entering and dropping a lot of hot, smoking melted metal all over a populated province? I think the answer is relatively obvious here. The current plan is to grab Hubble and steer it down into the ocean (though that isn't funded yet, and probably won't be until a tighter uncontrolled re-entry range less than 2019-2032 is calculable); Envisat should get treated the same way.
Envisat
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