What is the chance your plane will be hit by space debris?

MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand whats coming next. You can read more from the series here. In mid-October, a mysterious object cracked the windshield of a packed Boeing 737 cruising at 36,000 feet above Utah, forcing the pilots into an emergency landing. The internet was suddenly buzzing with the prospect that the plane had been hit by a piece of space debris. We still dont know exactly what hit the planelikely a remnant of a weather balloonbut it turns out the speculation online wasnt that far-fetched. Thats because while the risk of flights being hit by space junk is still small, it is, in fact, growing. About three pieces of old space equipmentused rockets and defunct satellitesfall into Earths atmosphere every day, according to estimates by the European Space Agency. By the mid-2030s, there may be dozens.