Anything Forums

Two space satellites smashed into each other on Tuesday in an unprecedented orbital accident. Government agencies are still assessing the aftermath, but early radar measurements have detected hundreds of pieces of debris that could pose a risk to other spacecraft.

As first reported by CBS News, a defunct Russian Cosmos satellite and a communication satellite owned by the US firm Iridium collided some 790 kilometres above northern Siberia on Tuesday.

"This is the first time that two intact spacecraft have accidentally run into each other," says Nicholas Johnson, chief scientist of NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office in Houston, Texas.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1658...space-junk.html

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:3873, old post ID:68293

Not terribly surprising, but still kinda scary. We do have a bit of a space junk problem up there. The real question is, how do you clean it up?

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:3873, old post ID:68296

manadren wrote: The real question is, how do you clean it up?

Star Wars weapon system practice, perhaps?

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:3873, old post ID:68298

lasers!

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:3873, old post ID:68301

i don't think we have such a powerful laser to do that

but just curious isn't this a safety issue for the international spacestation with all of that junk fly everywhere?

and for the junk to fall back to the earth's surface would take some time

i would assume that all of the junk would just burn up completly in the earth's atmostphere

Archived topic from Anythingforums, old topic ID:3873, old post ID:68806