Debris Spews Into Space in Collision of Satellites / nyt

Debris Spews Into Space in Collision of Satellites / nyt
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/sc...ellite.html?hp
A wussy little 1.2 tonne Iridium and a few tonnes of something
Russian just made one hell of a mess, that’s only going to get worse
before getting better for ISS and any number of other satellites.

This could cascade, and if it does our future of reliable satellite
placements is at risk, not to mention complex consequences for manned
missions.

~ BG

Debris Spews Into Space in Collision of Satellites
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/sc...ellite.html?hp
A wussy little Iridium and nearly a tonne of something Russian just
made one hell of a mess that’s only going to get worse before getting
better for ISS and any number of other satellites.

Iridium 33 (560 kg) + Cosmos 2251 (900 kg) = I told you so.

~ BG

On Feb 11, 8:27*pm, BradGuth wrote:
Debris Spews Into Space in Collision of Satellites
*http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/sc...ellite.html?hp
*A wussy little Iridium and nearly a tonne of something Russian just
made one hell of a mess that’s only going to get worse before getting
better for ISS and any number of other satellites.

Iridium 33 (560 kg) + Cosmos 2251 (900 kg) = I told you so.

*~ BG

This encounter could easily cascade, and if it does our future of
reliable satellite placements is at risk, not to mention complex to
lethal consequences for manned missions.

~ BG

On Feb 11, 10:25 pm, BradGuth wrote:

This could cascade, and if it does our future of reliable satellite
placements is at risk, not to mention complex consequences for manned
missions.

Of course it could, but does NASA care? "acceptable risk" they said
no doubt thinking that they can't be unlucky all the time...

But hey, spewing space with junk is a normal human thing to do. Ever
see the trash around a shack in West Virginia? Same thing here. Hey,
if nobody likes it then let THEM clean up the mess. As for us, we are
jes gonna sit in this here rocker on the front porch of our space
station!

On Feb 11, 9:53*pm, Benj wrote:
On Feb 11, 10:25 pm, BradGuth wrote:

This could cascade, and if it does our future of reliable satellite
placements is at risk, not to mention complex consequences for manned
missions.

Of course it could, but does NASA care? *"acceptable risk" they said
no doubt thinking that they can't be unlucky all the time...

But hey, spewing space with junk is a normal human thing to do. Ever
see the trash around a shack in West Virginia? Same thing here. Hey,
if nobody likes it then let THEM clean up the mess. As for us, we are
jes gonna sit in this here rocker on the front porch of our space
station!

This should start happening on a fairly regular basis, not to mention
whatever natural kinds of incoming debris is causing damage.

Next step will have to be a ten fold increase in radar tracking, plus
having to create a super-sized shuttle for a major clean up effort,
and of course at public expense that should run less than a few
trillion per decade. I bet William Mook could easily do this with
both hands tied behind his Rothschild back.

Debris Spews Into Space in Collision of Satellites
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/sc...ellite.html?hp
A wussy little Iridium and nearly a tonne of something Russian just
made one hell of a mess that’s only going to get worse before getting
better for ISS and any number of other satellites.

Iridium 33 (560 kg) + Cosmos 2251 (900 kg) = I told you so.

~ BG

"Benj" wrote in message
...
Of course it could, but does NASA care? "acceptable risk" they said
no doubt thinking that they can't be unlucky all the time...

They do care. ISS is especially vulnerable to space debris. It's one of
the biggest risks over the life of the program.

But hey, spewing space with junk is a normal human thing to do. Ever
see the trash around a shack in West Virginia? Same thing here. Hey,
if nobody likes it then let THEM clean up the mess. As for us, we are
jes gonna sit in this here rocker on the front porch of our space
station!

This wasn't a normal event. The news reports say it's unprecedented. I
certainly don't remember anything like this happening (two intact satellites
smashing into each other in a completely uncontrolled manner).

I'd imagine that there will be a lot of finger pointing and investigation
into how this could happen. The US tracks objects that are very small. To
let a relatively huge Russian satellite smash into a US communications
satellite is a really big mistake.

Jeff
--
"Many things that were acceptable in 1958 are no longer acceptable today.
My own standards have changed too." -- Freeman Dyson

On Feb 12, 6:09*am, "Jeff Findley"
wrote:
"Benj" wrote in message

...

Of course it could, but does NASA care? *"acceptable risk" they said
no doubt thinking that they can't be unlucky all the time...

They do care. *ISS is especially vulnerable to space debris. *It's one of
the biggest risks over the life of the program.

But hey, spewing space with junk is a normal human thing to do. Ever
see the trash around a shack in West Virginia? Same thing here. Hey,
if nobody likes it then let THEM clean up the mess. As for us, we are
jes gonna sit in this here rocker on the front porch of our space
station!

This wasn't a normal event. *The news reports say it's unprecedented. *I
certainly don't remember anything like this happening (two intact satellites
smashing into each other in a completely uncontrolled manner).

I'd imagine that there will be a lot of finger pointing and investigation
into how this could happen. *The US tracks objects that are very small. *To
let a relatively huge Russian satellite smash into a US communications
satellite is a really big mistake.

Jeff

What efforts if any had been applied to move our commercial and
military satellite out of the way?

Was the Russian satellite a stealth dead horse, or was there still
some navigation capability?

They (US and Russia) had to have known about this encounter for at
least several months, with radar tracking of each within a few cm
resolution (say at worse +/- 10 cm).

~ BG

"BradGuth" wrote in message
...
Debris Spews Into Space in Collision of Satellites / nyt
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/sc...ellite.html?hp
A wussy little 1.2 tonne Iridium and a few tonnes of something
Russian just made one hell of a mess, that’s only going to get worse
before getting better for ISS and any number of other satellites.

This could cascade, and if it does our future of reliable satellite
placements is at risk, not to mention complex consequences for manned
missions.

~ BG

********************
Could have been a deliberate act of enemy satellite decommissioning.
The question is, who was the hunter and who was the prey .....

On Feb 12, 9:39 am, "Hagar" wrote:
"BradGuth" wrote in message

...
Debris Spews Into Space in Collision of Satellites / nyt
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/sc...ellite.html?hp
A wussy little 1.2 tonne Iridium and a few tonnes of something
Russian just made one hell of a mess, that’s only going to get worse
before getting better for ISS and any number of other satellites.

This could cascade, and if it does our future of reliable satellite
placements is at risk, not to mention complex consequences for manned
missions.

~ BG

********************
Could have been a deliberate act of enemy satellite decommissioning.
The question is, who was the hunter and who was the prey .....


cascade time, oh oh
my gps!

An Iridium spacecraft has little or no ability to change its orbital
path. The Russian satellite was launched in 1993 and was out of
service at the time of the collision, so there is a good chance, that
it didn't have any delta-V available to avoid the collision either.

While such thinking may be anathema to many on here, this may be a
circumstance where we should not attribute to conspiracy that which
may be adequately explained by chaos.

Take care . . .

John