[ WP ] Space mining is on the rise . The Space tanker Exxon Valdez 2.0 crash and spill its cargo . Write a news story covering the event .

`` One hour ago, the Exxon Valdez 2.0 experienced a reactor malfunction while descending from geo-stationary orbit. The crew were killed instantly and contact with the tanker's docking computer was lost shortly thereafter, leaving it on a collision course with fuel station Lambda. Impact will occur in a half hour if ground controllers are unable to re-establish contact and direct the tanker to a safe orbit.'' 
 
 The newscaster paused for breath and waited until the voice in her ear queued her to continue. She was too professional to let the mild sense of panic brewing in her hindbrain affect her expression, a carefully cultivated frown that implied unflappable gravity, but she could not control the flush rising in her face. 
 
 `` Officials are sounding the alarm and warning all inbound traffic to divert course and seek higher orbits. We go now to Doctor Peter Lindholt, professor of astronavigation at Stanford. Doctor, what are we looking at here?'' 
 
 `` The end of human spaceflight,'' said the professor. 
 
 The newscaster kept her face neutral, but the professor lacked the training necessary to keep his fear from showing. He fidgeted in his seat and continued. 
 
 `` We can not predict the outcome of the collision, but past experience shows us that the debris field, particularly at this altitude, could persist for hundreds of years.'' 
 
 `` You're referring to the satellites that were destroyed during the South Pacific War?'' 
 
 `` Yes, yes. It took us ten years to create passable lanes, but those were just small objects. The Valdez is a hundred meters long and the fuel station is twice that size.'' 
 
 `` Could the station explode?'' 
 
 `` Not in the same way it would on earth, in an atmosphere, but if the tanks rupture they will vent their hydrazine and oxygen and the effects will be unpredictable. But it's not the explosion that matters. It's the fact that the Valdez was moving roughly 10 kilometers a second relative to the fuel station when control was lost. The impact alone will be sufficient to destroy both.'' 
 
 The newscaster started to ask another question but the professor kept talking rapidly. 
 
 `` The debris belt created by that collision could close earth orbit to all space shipping for hundreds of years. The moon colony is not self-sufficient yet and there are twenty three asteroid miners out there who would not be able to come home. I do n't know what they will be able to do. They could try to dive through the danger area but if they take a hit they'll either burn up or make the problem worse.'' 
 
 `` The colonists - `` 
 
 `` If we ca n't clear a hole for a resupply mission in the next three years, they will starve to death.'' 
 
 The newscaster shifted uncomfortably, hoping her producer would send her something through the ear piece to fill the awkward pause, but he was silent. 
 
 `` Surely there's something that can be done!'' she said, finally. 
 
 `` We'll have to do it the same way we did last time,'' the professor said, his voice turning bleak. `` Poke everything with a laser to heat up one side and shift it higher or lower until there are safe launch windows. It takes time and a lot of energy. Energy which we wo n't have.'' 
 
 `` Why not?'' asked the newcaster. She already knew the answer. Her brother had done a stint on the moon. But she still had a job to do. 
 
 `` Because the helium-3 deliveries are going to be interrupted for the duration of this crisis. We've got enough of a backlog to last maybe six months here on earth, but we're counting on an uninterrupted drop schedule from the lunar mining operations. Each drop that breaks up will put us behind. If enough do n't make it, then, well. Then we have a serious problem.'' 
 
 The newscaster nodded sagely and took a deep breath. The producer whispered in her ear and she exhaled. 
 
 `` Thank you Doctor Lindholt,'' she said, regaining her composure. `` Now here's Tom with the weather.''
