letheomaniac
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High-speed satellite smash
« on: 2009-02-12 04:33:34 » |
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[letheomaniac] I guess 'the air up there' is getting a bit crowded these days...
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com
Authors: Ryan Flinn and Torrey Clark
Dated: 12/2/2009
U.S., Russian Satellites Collide in First Space Crash
U.S. and Russian satellites collided over Siberia yesterday in the first crash between such objects at orbital speed, space agencies from both countries said.
The collision occurred 491 miles (790 kilometers) above Siberia at 11:55 a.m. New York time yesterday, destroying an Iridium Satellite LLC communications satellite and a defunct Russian Cosmos 2251 craft, National Aeronautics and Space Administration spokesman John Yembrick said in an e-mail, without identifying the cause.
It was the first crash between two intact space craft traveling at orbital speed, about 17,500 miles per hour, NASA spokeswoman Beth Dickey said by phone. While the resulting debris clouds elevated the risk to the International Space Station, which orbits at about 220 miles, it is within acceptable limits, Dickey said. She estimated the debris field contained between 200 and 300 objects.
Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, said the collision was too close to Earth for the debris to be a threat to the space station. The Defense Ministry is responsible for the craft, Roscosmos spokesman Alexander Vorobyov said by phone in Moscow today. The U.S. Defense Department’s Strategic Command is responsible for tracking the debris, according to Dickey.
Shuttle, Debris
Bethesda, Maryland-based Iridium, which uses its network of 66 satellites to provide wireless telephone and data services worldwide, said customers might experience limited disruptions, according to a statement e-mailed to Bloomberg News.
NASA’s next shuttle mission, scheduled to visit the space station when it launches no earlier than Feb. 22, won’t be affected by the crash, according to Dickey.
“There’s nothing that would give us any reason for concern at this point,” she said.
The agency’s Earth Observing Satellites orbit closer to where the crash occurred, with an altitude of about 439 miles, and are of highest concern, according to Yembrick.
Iridium will replace the lost satellite within 30 days with a spare already in orbit, the company said.
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