I wondered about that too - there must have been one major shitstorm brewing back on Earth. Plus there may have been damage/death caused by the debris of the two space stations crashing down on Earth.

@avclub-ba543c98ebb0f0e5cbc7f9eb475349bc:disqus But isn't that level of detail asking the writers to essentially come up with a blueprint for solving all the world's current problems? I think that's a big reason why these questions haven't been answered - no one today can really know what a sustainable system like…

There are a lot of amusing comments on here but I really like this one best.