Un iridium menos

[Arbacia]

Un satélite estadounidense y otro ruso chocan en el espacio
La colisión se ha producido a unos 780 kilómetros de altitud, en una órbita terrestre baja

REUTERS - Washington - 12/02/2009

Un satélite de comunicaciones estadounidense privado ha chocado en el espacio con otro ruso ya inoperativo, ha informado este jueves un portavoz militar estadounidense. "Creemos que se trata de la primera vez que dos satélites chocan en órbita", ha indicado el teniente coronel de la Fuerza Aérea Les Kodlick, del Comando Estratégico de EE UU.

Según este portavoz, en la colisión se han visto implicados un satélite de comunicaciones de la empresa Iridium Satellite LLC y otro ruso que ya no estaba en funcionamiento. El choque se ha producido en una órbita terrestre baja, a unos 780 kilómetros de altitud, empleada normalmente por los satélites de telecomunicaciones y aquellos que monitorizan fenómenos meteorológicos. Según Kodlick, la Estación Espacial Internacional (ISS) se encuentra en órbita a una altitud más baja para prevenir precisamente estas colisiones.

[rodiv]

Una nueva consecuencia de la contaminación espacial. Hay
"overbooking" en la orbita terrestre. Veremos que ocurre ahora que nuevos paises entran en el mundo de la astronautica, como los chinos...

Saludos

[rumbert]

Bueno, bueno, bueno.

Ahora se abre otra modalidad a parte, de la caza de bólidos, dobles, etc. La caza de colisiones de satélites, a ver quien puede pillarlos en pleno choque y nos saca un vídeo chulos

[SO4H2]

¡Eso es puntería!

Con la de espacio que hay y lo pequeños que son los satélites, desde luego hay que saber atinar...

Al final resultará que la situación de la película "Cuando los mundos chocan" es más realista de lo que cabía suponer.

La noticia en los medios:
http://www.abc.es/20090212/nacional-sociedad/satelite-estadounidense-otro-ruso-200902120153.html

[yippi]

Tambien se hacen eco en
http://avion.microsiervos.com/espacio/choque-satelites-artificiales-orbita.html

Saludos!!

[Arbacia]

Animación trayectorias

Ya hay entradas en la Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_satellite_collision

http://www.space.com/news/090211-satell ... ision.html
U.S. Satellite Destroyed in Space Collision
By Becky Iannotta and Tariq Malik
posted: 11 February 2009
6:00 p.m. ET
This story was updated at 7:28 p.m. EST.

WASHINGTON - Iridium Satellite LLC confirmed today that one of its satellites was destroyed Tuesday in an unprecedented collision with a spent Russian satellite and that the incident could result in limited disruptions of service.

According to an e-mail alert issued by NASA today, Russia's Cosmos 2251 satellite slammed into the Iridium craft at 11:55 a.m. EST (0455 GMT) over Siberia at an altitude of 490 miles (790 km). The incident was observed by the U.S. Defense Department's Space Surveillance Network, which later was tracking two large clouds of debris.

"This is the first time we've ever had two intact spacecraft accidentally run into each other," said Nicholas Johnson, chief scientist of NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "It was a bad day for both of them."

The collision appears to be the worst space debris event since China intentionally destroyed one of its aging weather satellites during a 2007 anti-satellite test, Johnson told SPACE.com. That 2007 event has since left about 2,500 pieces of debris in Earth orbit, but more time is needed to pin down the extent of Tuesday's satellite collision, he added.

"We're tracking more than 500 pieces of debris which pose an additional risk to satellites," said U.S. Navy Lt. Charlie Drey, a spokesperson for the U.S. Strategic Command which oversees the U.S. Space Surveillance Network.

In a prepared statement, the Bethesda, Md.-based Iridium characterized the incident as a "very low probability event" and said it was taking immediate action to minimize any loss of service. Iridium, which operates a constellation of 66 low Earth orbiting satellites providing mobile voice and data communications globally, said its system remains healthy and that it would implement a "network solution" by Friday.

"Within the next 30 days, Iridium expects to move one of its in-orbit spare satellites into the network constellation to permanently replace the lost satellite," the statement said.

The 1,234-pound (560-kg) Iridium 33 satellite involved in the collision was launched in 1997; the 1,984-pound (900-kg) Russian satellite was launched in 1993 and presumed non-operational. It did not have a maneuvering system, NASA said.

Iridium's spacecraft circle the Earth along a near-polar orbit once every 100 minutes and fly at a speed of about 16,832 mph (27,088 kph), the company states on its Web site.

An unprecedented crash

Johnson said outdated spacecraft, rocket stages and other components break apart in space every year, but there have only been three relatively minor collisions between such objects in the last 20 years. Never before have two intact satellites crashed into one another by accident, he added.

The debris created in Tuesday's collision is being tracked to assess its risk of damaging other satellites and the International Space Station, which is currently home to two American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut.

The space station flies at an altitude of about 220 miles (354 km), well below the impact point between the Russian and U.S. satellites 490 miles (790 km) up. Johnson said that only a very minor portion of debris from the two clouds is expected to descend across the space station's orbital path.

"We believe that the increased risk above the normal every day background risk is very, very small," Johnson said

NASA's orbital debris experts are also assessing the threat to other spacecraft. The agency's Earth Observing System satellites, which orbit at 438 miles (705 km), "are of highest interest for immediate consideration," NASA said in its e-mail alert, a copy of which was forwarded to Space News, a sister publication to SPACE.com.

Drey told SPACE.com that the first hint of the collision came when Iridium officials contacted a U.S. Strategic Command support office to report that they had lost contact with one of their satellites.

"Shortly after, our space surveillance center reported that they had observed multiple new objects in low orbit," Drey said. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network continuously tracks more than 18,000 separate man-made objects and debris at any given time, he added.

Tuesday's collision is the latest in a series of satellite woes in recent weeks.

Last month, the nascent Eutelsat W2M telecommunications satellite failed in orbit just five weeks after it launched into space. Another communications satellite, ASTRA 5A owned by SES Luxemburg, also failed and was adrift in orbit. The loss forced its operators to warn the owners of neighboring satellites to be prepared for the remote possibility of having to maneuver their spacecraft to avoid a collision with Astra 5A.

NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office also released an update last month on Russia's Soviet-era satellite Cosmos 1818 stating that the spacecraft appeared to spew a cloud of debris on July 4, 2008 that may be the result of leaking reactor coolant from a debris strike or fragmentation.

* What Happens When Satellites Fall
* Video - Successful Satellite Kill
* The Most Memorable Space Junk That Fell to Earth

SPACE.com Senior Editor Tariq Malik contributed to this story from New York City.

Satellite Destroyed in Crash With Another Craft
By ANDY PASZTOR

A functioning commercial satellite owned by a U.S. company was destroyed in what is believed to be the first ever in-orbit collision with another satellite, according to industry officials familiar with the details.

The crash, which happened Tuesday in low-earth orbit, involved one of the satellites owned by closely held Iridium Satellite LLC and a defunct Russian spy satellite. The Russian craft was spinning out of control, industry officials said, and was being monitored by Pentagon organizations that keep track of space debris and prevent in-orbit collisions from damaging or destroying both commercial and government satellites.

Iridium, Bethesda, Md., which provides voice and data services for more than 300,000 subscribers globally, said one of its spacecraft suffered a collision with a "non-operational Russian satellite," and was lost. The company said the event "has minimal impact on Iridium's service" and its remaining constellation "is healthy." The company's more than 60 satellites include backup capacity in orbit designed to withstand the loss of a single satellite.

While Pentagon brass, satellite industry executives and NASA leaders for years have publicly expressed concern about the dangers of orbital debris, there has been less concern about potential collisions between satellites. That's because the ground-based and space-based reconnaissance tools available to the Pentagon generally were considered adequate to keep close track of larger objects.

When satellites reach the end of their useful lives, they often are parked in remote orbits where they are unlikely to endanger working satellites, and sometimes they are pulled out of orbit and sent to burn up while re-entering the atmosphere. But if a satellite's onboard computers or other systems fail, or it runs out of battery power, it can be difficult for ground operators to maintain control. Without such orders from the ground, satellites can act unpredictably and move around erratically.

Iridium is analyzing whether the debris may impact its remaining fleet.

[Viracocha]

Qué casualidad, más o menos en la misma longitud (78ºN/107ºE), que Tunguska (60ºN/101ºE), sólo que más al norte. Justo 100 años después. ¡Que alguien llame a Iker Jiménez!

[rodiv]

2 satelites menos y 2 mas que suben "pa arriba", hoy han dado en las noticias además de las colisión de estos dos satélites, ha despegado un ariane 5 con exito y con otros dos nuevos satelites...

http://www.arianespace.com/news-mission ... 09/571.asp

así que ya hay repuesto

Bueno veremos si la basura generada con la colisión no empieza a estropear a otros cuantos más

[Rhea]

Bueno pues ya sabeís una profesión de futuro.


basurero espacial.

[astromates]

A ver ahora como se entienden rusos y americanos. Las compañías de seguros ya tiene otro parcela más, porque vaya tela

Fuente NASA imagen del día.