Oops!!Russian and US satellites collide

[malaise]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7885051.stm
<snip>
US and Russian communications satellites have collided in space in what is thought to be the biggest incident of its kind to date.

The US commercial Iridium spacecraft hit a defunct Russian satellite at an altitude of about 800km (500 miles) over Siberia on Tuesday, Nasa said.

The risk to the International Space Station and a shuttle launch planned for later this month is said to be low.

The Americans are now following the debris path from the impact. It is hoped that most of it will fall to Earth and burn up in the atmosphere.

Shuttle launch

The concern is whether the debris will spread and pose any risk to the ISS, which is orbiting the Earth some 435km below the course of the collision.

According to the Washington Post, a Nasa memo said officials determined the risk to be "elevated" but have estimated it as "very small and within acceptable limits".

[BridgeTheGap]

1. I hate when that happens! n.t

[BlooInBloo]

2. Wow - what are the chances of that?

:rofl:

[malaise]

5. I figure about the same as

me meeting Barack Obama. :rofl:

[cobalt1999]

6. Getting higher everyday

discovermagazine.com/2006/nov/map-space-junk

People have been launching objects into space for almost 50 years, creating an ever-expanding orbiting junkyard. The United States now tracks more than 10,000 pieces of debris four inches wide or larger, but tens of millions of smaller fragments are also whizzing through space at speeds that can exceed 17,000 miles per hour, says Mark Matney of NASA's Orbital Debris Program. At such speeds, a collision with even an apple-size object could shatter a spacecraft into hundreds of pieces.


Tens of millions of trash pieces orbiting the Earth. Some of them are zooming faster than 17,000 miles per hour. Click to see a full-size version. (Image courtesy of NASA)

1 BLAME THE RUSSIANS

Many of these objects—ones that tend to loop in a long oval around Earth's poles—are transfer stages from old Russian rockets. Rocket bodies represent about a fifth of cataloged space junk, abandoned satellites another fifth. Functioning spacecraft make up less than a tenth of the orbiting total.

2 NEXT TIME YOU DROP A CALL . . .

Think of this ring, which contains geosynchronous satellites that travel with the planet so they always face the same site on Earth. When these stop functioning, their orbits drift into trajectories that can threaten other valuable instruments. Twice a day, the defunct objects tear through working spacecraft.

[BlooInBloo]

8. Didn't ask about the derivative, but thanks.

[CanonRay]

3. This was bound to happen sooner or later

I'm just surprised it took so long

[DS1]

4. They need some construction-style backup beepers

/rimshot

[bobthedrummer]

7. Alvin "Buzzy" Krongard (George Tenet's pal) is a Director at Iridium.

That doesn't mean anything by itself, but look at this in the context of an archived thread based on a National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book update and the recent launches of Russian supply ships, Iranian satellite, Chinese and Indian missions, etc.

"U.S. Reconnaissance Satellites: Domestic Targets" (started 4-12-08)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x352054