Global issues about conservation and NASA does this? Houston, we have a problem!?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070722/sc_space/isscrewtotossspacejunkonspacewalk

All I hear lately is about "global warming" and being "green" however, there is nothing wrong with throwing tons of c**p in outer space? Why is that? Then why don't we shoot all of our garbage out of the Earth's orbit and quit wasting money and time about conservation and recycling? This is an insult to everyone that gives a c**p about our "air", "environment", "world", "universe", and most of all "THE ONLY RESOURCES WE HAVE ON THE PLANET AND HAVE NO WAY OF FINDING MORE UNTIL NASA CAN START DOING THINGS TO SHOW US A RETURN TO THE DOLLARS WE SPEND FOR THEIR RESEARCH AND NOT TOSS THEM AWAY CARELESSLY WITHOUT ANY REASON BUT TO SAY IT'S GARBAGE!!" Does anyone else have a problem with this? Click on the link at the top and Read, you tell me!

Answer 1

you know what you are so right they have been doing this since the start and this must be having an effect on our universe.  I mean i want to be an astronomer but i think that what has happened has got to change or it will harm us.  I dont believe in sending our trash up there because that is a dumb reason to ruin the universe and there might be a time in the future where we might be going to other planets or even be able to travel to stars.

Answer 2

As grizzbr1 pointed out, there is the problem with bringing the material back to Earth manually. A space ship, coming to leave some supplies, would likely use up fuel to bring the extre weight back to Earth, and there is the issue of if it would fit onboard. If there weren't a scheduled supply vessel the fuel consumption would have outweighed the environmental benefits of recycling the materials by far.

Answer 3

Guess they couldn't wait for the recycling shuttle.

Answer 4

You're correct, theoretically.  But, this is such a small amount compared to everything else we're doing that it's insignificant.