By Jim Wolf WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A privately owned U.S. communications satellite collided with a defunct Russian satellite in the first such collision in space, a U.S. military spokesman said on Wednesday. The collision, which took place on Tuesday in low-earth orbit, involved a spacecraft of privately owned Iridium Satellite LLC and a "non-operational" Russian communications satellite, said Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Les Kodlick of the U.S. Strategic Command. "We believe it's the first time that two satellites have collided in orbit," he said. The command's Joint Space Operations Center was tracking 500 to 600 new bits of debris, some as small as 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) across, in addition to the 18,000 or so other man-made objects it has catalogued in space, Kodlick said. The collision occurred at roughly 780 kilometers (485 miles), an altitude used by satellites that monitor weather and carry telephone communications among other things, he said. More.......... >>> http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSTRE51A8IA20090211
So now there thousands of bits O' satellite that will also hit other satellites as well. So not only is the ISS in danger but so to are all of the other satellites in orbit now. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
http://www.heavens-above.com/iridium.asp?Dur=1&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=CET create a user account you can spot the Iridium Satellites even in the daytime great site btw
If they know a collision is immanent then why not send a small rocket to just move them into another position so they won't hit anything.
Like they are the only nation that does that. The speed at which technology evolves obsoletes satellites very quickly. I'm pretty sure their life expectancies are short anyway and not always can they move them into a decaying orbit to destroy them. For the most part you have to take into consideration that satellites are made be "no-maintenance". They are launched in unmanned rockets and ejected into orbit, it's not like they have a few Technicians sent out to adjust their orbit. Satellite debris is a constant problem and I do believe there was something mentioned some time back about a "Clean up" operation to remove all the defunct ones. I guess that will only happen after a number of other collisions occur.
The question that comes to my mind was, is this an intentional or accidental? Is this a test or a random event?
I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner. I say its random. In the OP it states there are 18,000 man made objects in orbit. I wonder how many of them are in a stae of decay and have left their orbit.
http://orbitingfrog.com/blog/2008/04/14/space-litter/ You should check out some of the images, they have be artificially created using tracked information so satellite's and debris shown are larger than they would appear. Of course when you look I wouldn't be surprised if you start clambering for a tinfoil hat and information on how to kit your panic room out with a TEMPEST shielding.
Wow, thanks Stryder. I wonder how much planning they had to do to make sure space shuttles never got hit.
Space Junk It's not enough to pollute the earth in every dimension imaginable, earth, water, air, atomic etc... Now we as a species have an epidemic of Space Junk. Perhaps we should start a "Stop Littering" campaign at NASA and it's Russian, Chinese, and European equivalents. At the rate we're going, this will be the 1st of many collisions.:shrug:
We are prepaired!! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Yeah Im waiting for the big collision which sends a spacecraft powered by Plutonium batteries colliding and spiraling into Earths atmosphere. Burning up and dusting the Earth with a cancerous mist.
Oh, yeah! Those little tiny batteries will surely cause cancer and death for all of the world's animals!! ...LOL! Baron Max
Yeah, but what makes it doubly true is when it's repeated here at sciforums! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Baron Max
