Orbital Debris Simulator.

New York:: Women's Studio Workshop,, 2010.. Edition of 70. 10.25 x 8"; 24 pages. Letterpress printed with screenprinted images. Text printed in Future on Rives heavyweight paper. Viewable in 3D with enclosed anaglyph glasses. Bound with aluminum clovers and black cloth spine. Heidi Neilson: "Orbital Debris Simulator describes the phenomena of ‘space junk’ in the earth’s orbit, showing points of interest between the moon and the earth such as geosynchronous orbit, medium earth orbit, and the International Space Station. Images of space toys – spaceships and action figures from various science fiction ‘universes’ as well as replicas of actual spacecraft – are used as stand-ins for the orbital debris itself."  Introduction: "Orbital debris consists of defunct objects in earth's orbit created by people in the process of space exploration, such as used rocket stages, defunct satellites, explosion and collision fragments, coolant released by nuclear powered satellites, and nuts and bolts. These items eventually burn up when they fall to earth, but while some items in low orbit will fall in a few weeks, others in high orbit may orbit for centuries. Since the trajectories of spacecraft pass through these orbits, collisions with debris at standard orbital speeds of 15,000 - 25,000 miles per hour are a serious concern." Heidi Neilson: "I wanted to use the metal for the cover for its spaceship-y-ness. You’ll find that it fingerprints easily (aluminum) but the fingerprints also clean off easily with windex on a paper towel. The covers will also probably get scratched (and are a little already in addition to the sandblasted title) but this is fine--planned and appropriate even--as the text references scratches, dings and abrasions from the impact of orbital debris on spacecraft.