AIM-RAC: "The satellite with the other on its right..."

[sky's the limit]

Ooops. There's goes my Sat phone....



Russian, U.S. satellites collide in space

By Yuri Pushkin
CNN

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Two satellites, one Russian and one American, have collided some 800 kilometers (500 miles) above Siberia, the Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos, said Thursday.
Debris from the collision poses no threat to the International Space Station.

Debris from the collision poses no threat to the International Space Station.

The collision produced two large debris clouds, which are not believed to pose a threat to the International Space Station as long as the clouds continue moving in a lower orbit, Roscosmos said.

There is a chance the debris could hit other satellites at the same altitude, however, the space agency said.

"We have not received a warning of the possible danger to the ISS. The fragments may descend to the ISS orbit in several years, although I do not rule out that some fragments may go down within several days," Mikhail Martirosov, from the Russian mission control center, told the Russian news agency Interfax Thursday.

"The real threat will become obvious next week when we have enough information for calculating the trajectory of the fragments' descent," Martirosov said.

"It will be weeks at least before the true magnitude of these clouds are known," RIA-Novosti quoted NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries as saying, adding analysts expect the wreckage from the collision to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

The collision, which happened Tuesday, is believed to be the first between undamaged spacecrafts in orbit, Roscosmos said.

The Russian satellite was launched in 1993 and is considered inoperative, news agency Itar-Tass and the Russia Today TV station reported.

The U.S. satellite is part of the Iridium global mobile communications system and is owned by a consortium headed by Motorola, Russian media reported. It was launched in 1997.

[Jerricho]

Hey, I bagsie first Space Traffic Controller.

Although, I bet the Nav charges would be horrendous........

[Rudy]

Do companies have to register or reserve their orbits with any agency? Or do they just throw their satellites up there and hope it doesn't hit anything like the 'Big Sky theory' of uncontrolled airspace?

Jerricho,
I'm already working on a Space Collision Avoidance System to make you redundant.

[Jerricho]

Thanks for pissing on my corn flakes Rudy.

(Do you need somebody to be an overpaid consultant for the project?)

[Carrier]

Who pays compensation to whom? Have the vulture lawyers already filed claims?

[5400AirportRdSouth]

So they need a couple days to calculate the trajectories of the fragments, yet they had a couple years to calculate the trajectories of the satellites themselves?

I wonder if this was a snafu or simply the odds of Big Space theory catching up..

I cant imagine certain US agencies relying on this type of " oh, don't worry about that " kind of logic when it comes to their toys in space.





GREGOR: Damn it. Zat . Norris has foiled us again!

IVAN: Oh No! He untied the beautiful and scantily clad Natasha from the satellite, has round housed our Death Master 2005 Base Station and is now descending back to earth!

GREGOR: I Can't get a lock on him, he's hiding in the fragments!!!

IVAN: Hold on Gregor, someones at the door.

.: Dasvidania.



Meanwhile, back at the Kremlin,

SUPREME COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON: Hmm, how embarassing. Whatever shall we tell the press?

[Lurch]

I hope the International space station is ok

[Highflyinpilot]

Isnt that interresting.


To get an idea of how much garbo there is up there click here
http://science.nasa.gov/RealTime/jtrack ... ack3D.html


and here is a video of the collision.
http://spaceweather.com/swpod2009/12feb ... vie2.wmv?P...

[Tim]

well this is gonna jack up the satellite insurance premiums

[MrWings]

"Okay, so you're a rocket scientist. That don't impress me much."

[C-FKLY]

Hmm, with all the knowledge they have of these satellites, in terms of speed and trajectory, seems odd they couldn't predict this.

Hopefully this doesn't spark a domino effect.

[ilovelamp]

Im wondering how this will effect Iridiums service. Im sure there's many pilots up north who depend on this service as a last ditch lifeline, I know I do in the summers.

[sky's the limit]

(CNN) -- Sonic booms and at least one fireball in the sky were reported in Texas on Sunday, less than a week after two satellites collided in space and a day after the Federal Aviation Administration asked U.S. pilots to watch for "falling space debris," authorities said.
Video captured in Austin, Texas, shows a meteor-like object in the sky Sunday morning.

Video captured in Austin, Texas, shows a meteor-like object in the sky Sunday morning.

There were no reports of ground strikes or interference with aircraft in flight, FAA spokesman Roland Herwig said.

Herwig told CNN the FAA received no reports from pilots in the air of any sightings but the agency recieved "numerous" calls from people on the ground from Dallas, Texas, south to Austin, Texas.

Video shot by a photographer from News 8 TV in Austin showed what appeared to be a meteor-like white fireball blazing across a clear blue sky Sunday morning. The photographer caught the incident while covering a marathon in Austin.

On Saturday, the FAA told pilots through its routine notification system that "a potential hazard may occur due to re-entry of satellite debris into the earth's atmosphere." The notice did not specify a time or location. Video Watch video of meteor-like fireball »

Herwig said most of the reports the FAA received came in about midday Sunday in an area of Texas from Dallas south to Austin.

He said he was not certain where the information that sparked the FAA notification came from, but it was "probably from NORAD," or the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which tracks man-made objects in space. Calls to NORAD headquarters in Colorado were not immediately returned.

Lisa Block, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, said her agency had received calls from residents surprised by sonic booms about 11 a.m. She said calls came from an area from Dallas to Houston.
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Last week, the Russian and U.S. space agencies said two satellites, one Russian and one American, collided about 496 miles (800 kilometers) above Siberia, Russia.

The collision on Tuesday produced two large debris clouds, NASA said. The satellites collided at 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) per second, producing 500 to 600 pieces of space debris, the U.S. Strategic Command said.