On-orbit Satellite Collision |
On-orbit Satellite Collision |
Feb 11 2009, 09:35 PM
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Senior Member Group: Admin Posts: 4763 Joined: 15-March 05 From: Glendale, AZ Member No.: 197 |
Two satellites collide in orbit
BY WILLIAM HARWOOD Posted: February 11, 2009 In an unprecedented space collision, a commercial Iridium communications satellite and a presumably defunct Russian Cosmos satellite ran into each other Tuesday above northern Siberia, creating a cloud of wreckage, officials said today. Iridium satellite An artist's concept of an Iridium satellite orbiting the Earth. Photo: Iridium The international space station does not appear to be threatened by the debris, they said, but it's not yet clear whether it poses a risk to any other military or civilian satellites. "They collided at an altitude of 790 kilometers (491 miles) over northern Siberia Tuesday about noon Washington time," said Nicholas Johnson, NASA's chief scientist for orbital debris at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "The U.S. space surveillance network detected a large number of debris from both objects." MORE..... http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0902/11iridium/ -------------------- If Occam had heard my theory, things would be very different now.
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Feb 12 2009, 10:59 AM
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8789 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
I wondered that too, G. The Cosmos seemed to be dead already, but the Iridium's condition wasn't stated. All I can think is that the Russians weren't keeping tabs on the Cosmos anymore, and maybe the Iridium wasn't being tracked because it's a private spacecraft...?
There's obviously some sort of disconnect here, but not sure what it is. EDIT: It seems that the Iridium was in fact still active, so this remains puzzling. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Feb 12 2009, 01:35 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 236 Joined: 5-June 08 From: Udon Thani Member No.: 4185 |
EDIT: It seems that the Iridium was in fact still active, so this remains puzzling. Do the Iridium satellites have own maneuvering engines? The space shuttle and ISS have several times dodged potential close encounter situations, but other craft simply do not have the capacity for this (Hubble for instance...). What surprises me is that this happened at 800 km, as far as I know there is a lot more traffic further down (ISS altitude) and/or higher up (stationary orbits). Also, what kind of orbit was the other satellite in, in other words how fast did they hit? Worst case is a kind of chain-reaction, this has resulted in a large cloud of debris, which will slowly spiral down through all the other crowded orbits below, and it might hit other satellites in turn. Big satellites like Hubble, which can't steer themselves out of the way, are the most vulnerable, hope it stays clear! Regards, Geert. |
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