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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 impact produced a cloud of debris, which will be tracked into the future.
Surely this is somethign that is going to become more common as more and more satalites and probes are placed in orbit.
Mack.
I always wondered what happened to satalites once their useage timespan had been served.
Firstly all satellites are tracked, the Russian one changed course not long before the accident. Also the chances of two satellites hitting each other are so remote that it was not considered an issue until now.
Pentagon brass, satellite industry executives and NASA leaders for years have publicly expressed concern about the dangers of orbital debris. But the odds of a direct hit between satellites were considered so small as to be basically unthinkable. The ground-based and space-based reconnaissance tools available to the Pentagon generally were considered adequate to keep close track of larger objects
The Russian craft was being monitored by Pentagon organizations that keep track of space debris in order to prevent in-orbit collisions from damaging or destroying both commercial and government satellites.
The Pentagon didn't miss it, the Russian satellite changed course 'randomly' to exactly hit the other one.
Two car sized objects 'accidentally' hit in the immenseness of spacial orbit, one being a russian military satellite, the other being used by the US military for communications (Iridium) Its a bit like a bullet hitting a bullet, or two shells hitting each other.
coincidence?
really?
Russian one changed course not long before the accident
Cite?
* submarines collide [news.bbc.co.uk];
* footage shows an RAF plane's near mid-air collision [news.bbc.co.uk];
* a fireball, filmed over Austin, Texas, collides [news.bbc.co.uk] with Planet Earth.
I feel a conspiracy theory coming on...
