The problem with garbage disposal in space is that nothing every really goes away. It drifts along towards the nearest object that has a gravitational field and starts orbiting around it. After years of launching rockets, doing spacewalks, building space stations and installing satellites, we've created something of a garbage problem around the Earth.
We currently estimate that there are 8,000 individual bits of 'space junk' floating around up there, although that number grows all the time, and the more there is, the more of a hazard it poses. Once in full orbit, the junk whips around the world at 17,000 miles per hour - fast enough for it to completely destroy a television or radio satellite if it hit one. The debris is mostly made up of older, dead satellites, along with booster rockets and leftover detritus from space station construction - there are even astronauts' dropped tools and gloves up there. Discussions about what to do about it, and how to clear it before it forms a mesh that endangers future space missions, are ongoing.
Not all celebrities have fame and fortune, some are just famous – and in a ton of debt. They came from rags to riches, then went back to rags. Whether they’ve filed bankruptcy, ended up in court, or just can’t stop spending, celebrities mismanage their money just like everyone else. They just hide it well.
50 Cent coined the term “wanksta,” then “partied like it was his birthday” until he filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015. The rapper was said to be anywhere between $10 million and $50 million in debt. In 2016, a federal bankruptcy court judge in Connecticut approved a plan for the founder of G-Unit to pay his debts back. He was able to get his bankruptcy discharged in February of the following year.
Following a 45-year-long career in Hollywood, acting in more than 70 films, actor Gary Busey found himself in more debt than he was worth. In 2012, it was reported that Busey owed between $500,000 and $1 million worth of debt, but only had $50,000 to his name. The 74-year-old actor owed money to hospitals, banks, the L.A. Waterworks District, and even a storage company. He filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy that same year. Despite his longstanding career in Hollywood, Busey's net worth is now only $500,000.
Burt Reynolds is still worth five million dollars, but his battles with debt date back more than 20 years. Between bad investments and a pricey divorce from actress Loni Anderson, the 1970s superstar had to deal with over $10 million in debt and decided to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996. While testifying in a 1994 custody hearing, the South Florida native said he spent $40 million getting through his divorce.
The former Hollywood bad boy, Charlie Sheen owes the IRS nearly $5 million. But that's not all. In 2016, his net worth was reportedly still as high as $150 million, but he was nonetheless $12 million in debt at the time – including mortgages, legal fees, and taxes. That same year, Debt.com reported Sheen owed nearly $300,000 on an American Express card alone.