For centuries, salvage crews have operated under three codified laws:

1. The distressed vessel must be in significant peril or complete loss.

2. The salvor must be acting voluntarily and not under duty of contract.

3. The salvor's efforts must contribute to the success of the salvage.

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In 1686, Newtown formally defined the three laws of motion:

1. An object will not change its motion unless a force acts upon it.

2. The force on an object is equal to its mass times its acceleration.

3. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

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In 2150, a lonely garbage collector operating in the belt of space junk orbiting Earth will discover these laws have a new application.