* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Iridium Satellite crash

Blobrana · L

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY
1145 PM EST FRI FEB 13 2009

...POSSIBLE SATELLITE DEBRIS FALLING ACROSS THE REGION...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS RECEIVED CALLS THIS EVENING FROM THE PUBLIC CONCERNING POSSIBLE EXPLOSIONS AND...OR EARTHQUAKES ACROSS THE AREA. THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION HAS REPORTED TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT THAT THESE EVENTS ARE BEING CAUSED BY FALLING SATELLITE DEBRIS. THESE PIECES OF DEBRIS HAVE BEEN CAUSING SONIC BOOMS...RESULTING IN THE VIBRATIONS BEING FELT BY SOME RESIDENTS...AS WELL AS FLASHES OF LIGHT ACROSS THE SKY. THE CLOUD OF DEBRIS IS LIKELY THE RESULT OF THE RECENT IN ORBIT COLLISION OF TWO SATELLITES ON TUESDAY...FEBRUARY 10TH WHEN KOSMOS 2251 CRASHED INTO IRIDIUM 33.

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RE: Austin Fireballs

Blobrana · L

Satellite phone users worried about the effect of the destruction of one of the Iridium orbiters this week can breathe easy now, as the company has already plugged the gap in its network.

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Blobrana · L

The crash of two satellites has generated an estimated tens of thousands of pieces of space junk that could circle Earth and threaten other satellites for the next 10,000 years, space experts said Friday.
One called the collision "a catastrophic event" that he hoped would force the new U.S. administration to address the issue of debris in space.
Russian Mission Control chief Vladimir Solovyov said Tuesday's smash-up of a derelict Russian military satellite and a working U.S. Iridium commercial satellite occurred in the busiest part of near-Earth space - some 800 kilometres above Earth.

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Blobrana · L

A cloud of hazardous wreckage is hurtling around the Earth at 25,000mph after the first major traffic crash in space.
Powerful military radars were being used yesterday to monitor at least 600 pieces of debris sent spinning into orbit when two satellites smashed into one another 491 miles above Siberia in Russia.

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Blobrana · L

COLLISION BETWEEN TWO SATELLITES IN ORBIT: IRIDIUM 33 AND KOSMOS 2251

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A commercial Iridium communications satellite and a defunct Russian satellite ran into each other on February 10, 2009 above Northern Siberia, creating a cloud of debris. The impact occurred at 16:56:00 UTC, at Latitude 72° 30' 04'', Longitude 97° 52' 46'', Altitude 788.68 km.
Both satellites were flying at that time with 6.8 km/sec or 24480 km/h.

Blobrana · L

"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, Russian mission control centre.

Source

Blobrana · L

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 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.

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Blobrana · L

Two big communications satellites collided in the first-ever crash of two intact spacecraft in orbit, shooting out a pair of massive debris clouds and posing a slight risk to the international space station.
NASA said it will take weeks to determine the full magnitude of the crash, which occurred nearly 800 kilometres over Siberia on Tuesday.

"We knew this was going to happen eventually" - Mark Matney, an orbital debris scientist at Johnson Space Centre in Houston.

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The Iridium 33 satellite was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on the 14th September, 1997.

TLE Data

1 24946U 97051C   09041.76123952  .00000148  00000-0  45664-4 0  4735
2 24946 086.3989 121.2960 0002253 089.6115 270.5342 14.34220263597475

Period: 100.4 min
Inclination: 86.4°
Perigee: 783.2 km
Apogee: 786.4 km

-- Edited by Blobrana at 01:21, 2009-02-12

Blobrana · L

Update:
The 900-kilogram Kosmos 2251 satellite collided with the 560-kilogram Iridium 33 satellite at 16:56 GMT, 10th February, over Siberia, roughly 72.44 N, 98.00 E.

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