[Yardstick]

I left out that detail for simplicity’s sake but thanks for filling it in. So I guess that pretty much everything up there, unless it’s moving at precisely the velocity that would keep it in perfect orbit, is either spiraling towards or away from earth, and therefore doomed to become either Skylab or Major Tom eventually.

[Cboldt]

-- I guess that pretty much everything up there, unless it's moving at precisely the velocity that would keep it in perfect orbit, is either spiraling towards or away from earth ... --

I think an object can spiral away but not escape (not moving fast enough), so after spiraling away for awhile, it reverses and spirals toward. Either it's moving fast enough, or it's Skylab. Might take a few hundred thousand years ;-)