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 15 2009, 12:30 AM
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Newbie Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: 25-September 08 Member No.: 4354 |
I'm surprised this happened in my lifetime! The future is now...
Does anyone know if de-orbit tethers have been / will be added to any existing/future payloads? I wonder how many more collisions like this there can be before the debris situation becomes unmanageable.... |
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