* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Chinese anti-satellite test

Blobrana · L

Space debris 'dangerous' to ISS

Debris from a satellite destroyed in 2007 by a Chinese missile is in the vicinity of the International Space Station and astronauts are ready to take cover if required, a Russian official said Friday.
The shooting down of the Chinese weather satellite Feng Yun 1C by a ground missile launched from China at the time sparked international alarm and concern about the creation of dangerous space debris.
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Blobrana · L

FengYun 1-C satellite debris re-entry

Blobrana · L

RE: Chinese anti-satellite test

Blobrana · L

The Chinese anti-satellite missile test has added 600 "objects" (debris) in space and Beijing needs to be restrained from carrying out similar attempts in future by international space powers, Indian space officials said.

"They have added 600 objects by just one shot, which according to international guidelines, they are not supposed to have done" - G Madhavan Nair, Secretary in the Department of Space.

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Blobrana · L

On January 11, 2007, an aging Chinese Feng Yun 1C polar weather satellite orbiting 865 kilometres above Earth was struck by a kinetic kill vehicle carried on a ballistic missile launched from China's Xichang Space Centre. It was a successful antisatellite (ASAT) weapons test that showed that the Chinese could, in the future, knock down U.S. satellites. On February 23, U.S. vice president Dick Cheney responded during a speech in Sydney, Australia, first by noting China's "important role" in the recent treaty with North Korea, then by stressing that "last month's antisatellite test, and China's fast-paced military buildup, are less constructive and are not consistent with China's stated goal of a 'peaceful rise.'"

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Blobrana · L

Debris from a satellite destroyed by a Chinese missile does not threaten the International Space Station, a Russian space official said Friday.

"We are diverting the orbit of the ISS to prevent a possible collision with large fragments of space debris, a decision the Russian Mission Control took together with the Johnson Space Centre in Houston" - Mission Control spokesman.

The expert also said an anti-meteorite system protected the station from minor fragments. He said that the destroyed satellite's orbit had been 800 kilometres higher than that of the ISS, and that some the fragments orbits are decreasing.
Both Russia and the U.S. are tracking the debris.
American experts said they were tracking 525 large fragments from the Chinese satellite, and have registered 500-600 instances of debris passing within five kilometres of orbiting satellites.

Source Novosti

Blobrana · L

When the Chinese government destroyed one of its weather satellites in a military test last month, it sent a chill through the U.S. military.
And engineers say it had a serious side effect — it increased the amount of orbiting space junk by about 10 percent.
That could mean danger — to other satellites, and even, possibly, to astronauts on the International Space Station and future space shuttle flights.

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Blobrana · L

The effects of China's anti-satellite test are graphically seen in an animation showing the debris that it created, and how all that junk matches up with the orbits of the international space station and other spacecraft. A satellite-tracking expert created the video clip to draw attention to the potentially perilous traffic in low Earth orbit - a space jam that just got worse.

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Blobrana · L

Debris (1999-025E) from the Chinese Feng Yun (Wind and Cloud) 1C polar orbit weather satellite that was launched in May, 1999, is predicted to re-enter the Earth atmosphere on the 4th February 2007.

The satellite was destroyed by an anti-satellite system launched from the Xichang Space Centre on 11 January, when it was passing 865km overhead.
This piece of debris has currently the lowest orbit (orbit inclined at 99.443 degrees); other pieces (at least 33) have been scattered into an orbit as high as 3499 x 845 km, with orbits inclined as much as 100.158 degrees.

The polar satellite had originally orbit height and inclination of 860 x 882 km, 98.6degrees.

Position of the Satellite at noon, 4th February.

Expand (84kb, 630 x 390)

TLE Data

FENGYUN 1C DEB
1 29716U 99025E   07024.49494127  .01363722  33951-5  74796-3 0   192
2 29716 099.4426 017.3279 0364082 273.4912 082.4608 15.51951446  1719
1 29716U 99025E   07023.91433350  .01390212  33879-5  85396-3 0   178
2 29716 099.4450 016.5605 0366117 274.6917 081.2592 15.50458593  1622
1 29716U 99025E   07023.91433388  .01388963  33879-5  85566-3 0   189
2 29716 099.4451 016.5607 0366017 274.6927 081.2501 15.50454943  1620
1 29716U 99025E   07023.52695506  .01394895  33843-5  84444-3 0   162
2 29716 099.4442 016.0514 0371283 275.8180 080.0741 15.49414372  1563
1 29716U 99025E   07022.94540536  .01412604  33792-5  87485-3 0   158
2 29716 099.4442 015.2907 0377187 278.0657 077.7892 15.47858472  1474