U.S. And Russian Satellites Collide

[HokieEngineer]

U.S. And Russian Satellites Collide, Communications Satellite Hits Russian Satellite; International Space Station Deemed Safe - CBS News

(CBS) By CBS News space analyst Bill Harwood
A commercial Iridium communications satellite collided with a Russian satellite or satellite fragment, Tuesday, creating a cloud of wreckage in low-Earth orbit, officials said Wednesday. The international space station is not threatened by the debris, they said, but it's not yet clear whether it poses a risk to any other satellites in similar orbits.

"Everybody is saying the risk is minimal to NASA assets," said an agency manager who asked not to be identified.



Once source said U.S. Space Command was tracking about 280 pieces of debris, most of it from the defunct Russian satellite. A spokesman for U.S. Space Command was not aware of the incident but he said he would try to track down additional details. Calls to Iridium Satellite LLC were not immediately returned.

Iridium operates a constellation of some 66 satellites, along with orbital spares, to support satellite telephone operations around the world. The spacecraft are in orbits tilted 86.4 degrees to the equator at an altitude of about 485 miles.

The space station circles the globe at an altitude of about 215 miles in an orbit tilted 51.6 degrees to the equator. Other civilian science satellites operate in polar orbits similar to Iridium's and presumably could face an increased risk as a result of the collision. But again, details were not immediately available.

More info:


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

[TNGTony]

I forget the name of the short story where a planet was doomed never to have any space flights or satellites because a war had the powers blow up all the communications satellites in space causing an impenetrable cloud of debris to shroud the globe. This is scary stuff. This debris has to go somewhere and most of it isn't going to fall out of orbit right away.

See ya
Tony

[brettbolt]

Space is big. Satellites are small. What are the odds of a collision?

The first outer space traffic accident.

[TNGTony]

The problem now is we have lots of "little pieces" flying in all sorts of untrackable directions. Chances are still small that something else will be hit since space is awfully large, but even a small piece of shrapnel will kill anything it hits. We don't need lasers to bring down satellites...bee-bees with sufficient momentum will do the trick.

See ya
Tony

[jcrandall]

Somebody is saying oops today, other than the satellite people in El Segundo that kiiled a bunch of DVRs last night (or their scheduled recordings at least).

I guess this one is a little bigger oops.

[rglore]

Another article...


Two Satellites Collide, Putting Space Station at Risk - washingtonpost.com

[bighick]

This better not mess up my cell phone or dish :x

[long_time_DNC]

The orbit is moderately low, but the debris cloud is rather large (and growing). Not a good thing...

[Sponge14]

With Dish's luck recently, I am surprised I am not reading "Ceil-2 involved in mid air collision."

[long_time_DNC]

With Dish's luck recently, I am surprised I am not reading "Ceil-2 involved in mid air collision."

Ciel 2 is in a far higher orbit than the two that collided, so it's not in any danger from this collision. The IIS...that could be an entirely different situation...