mid orbit collision

[timetraveller]

I have just recieved a news flash that reports a mid orbital collision between an irridium satelite and a defunct Russian Cosmos satelite collided on tuesday things are getting prety crowded up there maybe NASA needs to Hire a space version of Crapers and son to go pick up all the space junk here is the link to the news report

http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0902/11iridium/

regards Pete

[barkis]

It was bound to happen sooner or later. It's as busy as the M6 motorway up there, and soon getting spacecraft away from earth orbit will be running the gauntlet.

A cleanup operation doesn't seem a possibility, as no one wants to foot the bill for such a monumental task. That's man all over though, he has turned the planet into a junkyard, and now the space surrounding us is littered with garbage. Makes you weep. :crybaby:

Ron.

[661-pete]

How much is all that new debris going to show up on astro images, I wonder? And all the bits will have gone into totally unknown and unpredicted orbits...

I think it was Arthur C Clarke or someone like that, who proposed that laser-based missile defence systems could be put to new, more benign use: detecting this space-junk and frazzling it into harmless (?) dust. Was it him? Do we 'have the technology'?

[Sam]

The Iridiums are LEO aren't they? so hopefully the debris should fall back to earth - might have to wear a helmet for the next few weeks when outside.

[jgs001]

I guess it should, but the defunct satellite that hit the Iridium hadn't done so.

[ChrisEdu]

Two satellites have crashed into each other in what is believed to be the first collision in outer space.

A privately-owned US communications satellite collided with a defunct Russian military satellite above the north Arctic. Colonel Les Kodlick of the US Strategic Command said: "We believe it's the first time that two satellites have collided in orbit."

He warned that the crash debris was a potential problem that could require special manoeuvres among space-faring nations.

The crash occurred 485 miles above earth - an altitude used by satellites that monitor weather, relay communications and perform scientific observations.

"It's a very important orbit for a lot of satellites and this highlights the need for improved awareness of events taking place in space," said Col Kodlick.

The US satellite was operated by Iridium which has the world's largest commercial satellite constellation made up of some 66 cross-linked satellites plus orbiting spares. It provides voice and data services for areas not served by ground-based communications networks.

"This event is not the result of a failure on the part of Iridium or its technology," said Iridium spokeswoman Liz DeCastro.

The Russian craft known as Cosmos 2251 was launched in June 1993 and probably stopped working five to ten years ago.

Ref: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090212/twl-satellites-collide-in-outer-space-41f21e0.html

[profees]

The Iridiums are LEO aren't they? so hopefully the debris should fall back to earth - might have to wear a helmet for the next few weeks when outside.

LOL - if its small bits that might work - but what if they are like the size of a motor bike - need more than a helmet me thinks -- :shock: