report: ISS minor debris strike

http://www.usatoday.com/news/science...-station_x.htm


Space station struck by floating debris, but no damage reported
MOSCOW (AP) - The U.S.-Russian crew of the international space station heard
what sounded like a "tin can" being crushed against the outer hull, but
Russian space officials said Thursday the men were safe and there were no
immediate signs of any damage.
A space official said the sound might have been produced by equipment on the
station, but a spokesman for Russia's Space Forces attributed the noise to a
brush with floating space junk.

The station is manned by U.S. astronaut Michael Foale and Russian cosmonaut
Alexander Kaleri.

"It sounded like a metal tin can kind of being expanded and compressed,"
Foale said. "It was a noise that lasted about a second. It sounded like an
impact or something."

Foale and Kaleri continued their normal maintenance and research activities.
They planned to observe Thanksgiving with a light work schedule and a meal
that included turkey, chicken and rice.

Valery Lyndin, a spokesman for Mission Control outside Moscow, said "all the
station's systems are working normally" after the sound was reported early
Wednesday. An inspection of the station's outer surface by outside cameras
found no signs of damage, he told The Associated Press.

Sergei Gorbunov, a spokesman for the Russian Aerospace Agency, said on NTV
television the crew heard what "sounded as if a tin can was being crushed,"
but the ensuing check found no trace of impact.

"The check made by the crew found no changes either in the equipment section
or the atmosphere of the station, which would have changed instantly if the
station's skin were punctured," Gorbunov said.

The sound might have come from some of the station's equipment, not a
collision, he said.

However, a spokesman for the Russian Space Forces, which focus on monitoring
the Russian satellite fleet but also keep track of the space station, said
the station collided with a piece of space junk.

The spokesman, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity,
said the space forces detected an object along the station's orbit. They
determined that the object was very small and would pose no danger to the
craft.

Thousands of pieces of debris from spacecraft orbit the Earth, and the Space
Forces monitor them to make sure there is no threat to the station or
satellites. If a piece of debris is big enough to threaten damage,
spacecraft are directed to safer orbits.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



--
Terrell Miller


"Very often, a 'free' feedstock will still lead to a very expensive system.
One that is quite likely noncompetitive"
- Don Lancaster

They now say it was probably a ventilator fan noise, not an impact.



"Terrell Miller" wrote in message
...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/science...-station_x.htm


Space station struck by floating debris, but no damage reported
MOSCOW (AP) - The U.S.-Russian crew of the international space station
heard
what sounded like a "tin can" being crushed against the outer hull, but
Russian space officials said Thursday the men were safe and there were no
immediate signs of any damage.
A space official said the sound might have been produced by equipment on
the
station, but a spokesman for Russia's Space Forces attributed the noise to
a
brush with floating space junk.

The station is manned by U.S. astronaut Michael Foale and Russian
cosmonaut
Alexander Kaleri.

"It sounded like a metal tin can kind of being expanded and compressed,"
Foale said. "It was a noise that lasted about a second. It sounded like an
impact or something."

Foale and Kaleri continued their normal maintenance and research
activities.
They planned to observe Thanksgiving with a light work schedule and a meal
that included turkey, chicken and rice.

Valery Lyndin, a spokesman for Mission Control outside Moscow, said "all
the
station's systems are working normally" after the sound was reported early
Wednesday. An inspection of the station's outer surface by outside cameras
found no signs of damage, he told The Associated Press.

Sergei Gorbunov, a spokesman for the Russian Aerospace Agency, said on NTV
television the crew heard what "sounded as if a tin can was being
crushed,"
but the ensuing check found no trace of impact.

"The check made by the crew found no changes either in the equipment
section
or the atmosphere of the station, which would have changed instantly if
the
station's skin were punctured," Gorbunov said.

The sound might have come from some of the station's equipment, not a
collision, he said.

However, a spokesman for the Russian Space Forces, which focus on
monitoring
the Russian satellite fleet but also keep track of the space station, said
the station collided with a piece of space junk.

The spokesman, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of
anonymity,
said the space forces detected an object along the station's orbit. They
determined that the object was very small and would pose no danger to the
craft.

Thousands of pieces of debris from spacecraft orbit the Earth, and the
Space
Forces monitor them to make sure there is no threat to the station or
satellites. If a piece of debris is big enough to threaten damage,
spacecraft are directed to safer orbits.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
----
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.



--
Terrell Miller


"Very often, a 'free' feedstock will still lead to a very expensive
system.
One that is quite likely noncompetitive"
- Don Lancaster

Dosco Jones wrote:

They now say it was probably a ventilator fan noise, not an impact.

Who are "they"? In spite of NASA's recent troubles I still want to hear what
they (that "they", as in NASA) have to say about it.

--
bp
Proud Member of the Human O-Ring Society Since 2003

Terrell Miller wrote:


"It sounded like a metal tin can kind of being expanded and compressed,"
Foale said. "It was a noise that lasted about a second. It sounded like an
impact or something."

Few things would put me quite on edge as much as a noise on my spaceship
that I can't find any explanation of. Sometime next week they will find
the remnants of what looks like an egg of some sort- and then, during
dinner, they will start having severe stomach cramps...followed by the
larval forms tearing their way out of.....

Pat

Dosco Jones wrote:

They now say it was probably a ventilator fan noise, not an impact.


Yeah...and they thought that thing on the Nostromo was around a foot in
height... :-)

Pat

They determined that the object was very small and would pose no danger
to the craft.

That sounds like obvious bull. Anything the size you can detect from Earth's
surface in ISS's orbit is definitely going to cause a Bad Day if it hits ISS.

Jan

On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 11:33:44 +0100, Jan C. Vorbrüggen wrote:

They determined that the object was very small and would pose no danger
to the craft.

That sounds like obvious bull. Anything the size you can detect from Earth's
surface in ISS's orbit is definitely going to cause a Bad Day if it hits ISS.

?

Er.... Can you state the LEO resolution capabilities of Russian and/or US
radar?

And, while we're at it, at what size does orbital debris become a definite
"Bad Day"?

Jan

--
Chuck Stewart
"Anime-style catgirls: Threat? Menace? Or just studying algebra?"

"Jan C. Vorbrüggen" wrote in message
...
They determined that the object was very small and would pose no danger
to the craft.

That sounds like obvious bull. Anything the size you can detect from
Earth's
surface in ISS's orbit is definitely going to cause a Bad Day if it hits
ISS.

Not necessarily, orbital collision speeds can vary from about 35,0000 mph to
almost 0 mph. Depends on the orbits. If the orbits are almost identical the
objects can collide with a feathers touch. In the end, that's how
spacecraft dock.

uray

*follow-ups trimmed*

"Chuck Stewart" wrote ...
On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 11:33:44 +0100, Jan C. Vorbrüggen wrote:

They determined that the object was very small and would pose no danger
to the craft.

That sounds like obvious bull. Anything the size you can detect from Earth's
surface in ISS's orbit is definitely going to cause a Bad Day if it hits ISS.

Er.... Can you state the LEO resolution capabilities of Russian and/or US
radar?

Yes he probably can. Without a Google check I'd guess it can't do 1cm but
it probably can do 10cm.

With a Google check ...
http://www.esoc.esa.de/external/mso/debris.html
" In 39 years of space activities some 3750 launches led to more than 23000
observable space objects (larger than 10 cm)"

And, while we're at it, at what size does orbital debris become a definite
"Bad Day"?

Without a Google check I'd say 1cm qualifies. (I'm not sure how the statistics
work out but it would be my wild-eyed guess that the vast majority of impacts
occur at between 1/3 and 1 2/3 of orbital velocity for the altitude in question.)

Results from a quick Google check suggest I was a little pessimistic
http://www.emi.fraunhofer.de/Abteilu...ummary-low.PDF

"uray" wrote ...
"Jan C. Vorbrüggen" wrote in message
They determined that the object was very small and would pose no danger
to the craft.

That sounds like obvious bull. Anything the size you can detect from
Earth's
surface in ISS's orbit is definitely going to cause a Bad Day if it hits
ISS.

Not necessarily, orbital collision speeds can vary from about 35,0000 mph to
almost 0 mph. Depends on the orbits. If the orbits are almost identical the
objects can collide with a feathers touch. In the end, that's how
spacecraft dock.

Perhaps someone can determine the chances that a 10cm+ object that impacts
ISS does so at a small enough velocity to be safe. My assumption would be
(with one exception*) that such an occurance would be very, very, very unlikely.

* That being that the object in question has recently separated from an ISS
related source (e.g. from the ISS itself, or from a Progress / Soyuz / Shuttle
in close orbit).