11th February 2009, 11:02 PM
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0902/11iridium/
Two satellites just smashed into each other at a speed of about 1.2 miles a SECOND, which is normal considering orbital speeds, but still a massive amount of energy. The resulting cloud of particles is spreading out, and it's not entirely known what will happen (since it's a cloud), but one thing's for sure, lots of debris flying in random directions at orbital speed is a danger to anything nearby. If another satellite is destroyed by one, that's even more debris, and of course there's the ISS.
It may not get as bad as that, the debris are in, to put it mildly, rapidly decaying orbits, and there's a LOT of space between things up there, but there is the possibility for an ugly chain reaction.
Two satellites just smashed into each other at a speed of about 1.2 miles a SECOND, which is normal considering orbital speeds, but still a massive amount of energy. The resulting cloud of particles is spreading out, and it's not entirely known what will happen (since it's a cloud), but one thing's for sure, lots of debris flying in random directions at orbital speed is a danger to anything nearby. If another satellite is destroyed by one, that's even more debris, and of course there's the ISS.
It may not get as bad as that, the debris are in, to put it mildly, rapidly decaying orbits, and there's a LOT of space between things up there, but there is the possibility for an ugly chain reaction.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)