NASA’s Trash Capsule: ‘A Beautiful Release’

Do you ever wonder what astronauts at The International Space Station do with their Tang packets and empty Dippin Dots containers?

A pair of NASA astronauts released a capsule loaded with 1.5 tons of trash Friday as the space station soared over Bolivia. According to NASA, the capsule would then simply re-enter the atmosphere and burn up harmlessly over the Pacific.

Good to know that when we overload our nation’s landfills in short order that we can – and will – start launching used diapers into space.

According to the AP, NASA supplier Orbital ATK deployed a capsule to the space station in December, full of food, clothes and other goods. The astronauts removed the contents, then filled it with garbage and old equipment for incineration.

Mission Control called it "A beautiful release."

Hopefully it’s the last we see of Trash Capsule, but let me remind you that back in October, a rogue piece of space debris was being tracked as it headed towards earth.

Likely a fuel tank of some sort, it’s reentry near Sri Lanka created a fireball as MOST OF IT burned up in the earth’s atmosphere. And for what didn’t? Don’t worry… it just landed in the Indian ocean. I’m sure everything turned out fine.

I’m Anna Wells, and this is IEN Now.