US-Russian Orbiting Satellites Collide Over Siberia, Two Clouds of Debris Cover Earth

2009-02-12 09:02:06

·A U.S. communications satellite collided with a defunct Russian satellite in space. ·The collision poses a slight risk to international space station, NASA said Wednesday. ·It was the first time that "two intact spacecraft accidentally run into each other" in space.


	A computer-generated image released by the European Space Agency (ESA) shows trackable objects in Low Earth Orbit (LOE). US and Russian satellites crashed in space, the first known major accident of its kind, creating two clouds of debris that were being tracked by experts.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) --

One privately owned U.S. communications satellite collided with a defunct Russian satellite in space shooting out a pair of massive debris clouds and posing a slight risk to the international space station, NASA said Wednesday.

It was the first such collision in space, NASA spokesman Kelly Humphries said, adding that the magnitude of the accident was still unknown.

NASA will take weeks to determine the full magnitude of the crash, which occurred Tuesday nearly 790 km over Siberia, an altitude used by satellites that monitor weather and carry telephone communications among other things.

According to an email alert issued by NASA Wednesday, Russia's Cosmos 2251 satellite slammed into the Iridium 33 satellite at 11:55 a.m. EST (0455 GMT). 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."

He said outdated spacecraft, rocket stages and other components break apart in space every year, but there have only been three relatively minor collisions between such objects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 354 km, well below the impact point between the Russian and U.S. satellites.

NASA believed any risk to the space station and its three astronauts is low. There also should be no danger to the space shuttle set to launch with seven astronauts on Feb. 22, officials said, but that will be re-evaluated in the coming days.

But the risk of damage from Tuesday's collision is greater for the Hubble Space Telescope and Earth-observing satellites, which are in higher orbit and nearer the debris field.

At the beginning of this year, there were roughly 17,000 pieces of manmade debris orbiting Earth, Johnson said. The U.S. Space Surveillance Network detected the two debris clouds created Tuesday.

Litter in orbit has increased in recent years, in part because of the deliberate breakups of old satellites. It's gotten so bad that orbital debris is now the biggest threat to a space shuttle in flight, surpassing the dangers of lift off and return to Earth.


	A computer-generated image released by the European Space Agency (ESA) shows trackable objects in Low Earth Orbit (LOE). US and Russian satellites crashed in space, the first known major accident of its kind, creating two clouds of debris that were being tracked by experts.(Xinhua/AFP Photo)

NASA is in regular touch with the network to keep the space station a safe distance from any encroaching objects, and shuttles,too, when they're flying.

Iridium, which operates a constellation of 66 low Earth orbiting satellites providing mobile voice and data communications globally, also said Wednesday that the incident could result in limited disruptions of service.

In a prepared statement, the Bethesda, Maryland-based Iridium characterized the incident as a "very low probability event" and said it was taking immediate action to minimize any loss of service.

The company has a system of active satellites that relay calls from portable phones that are about twice the size of a regular mobile phone. It has more than 300,000 subscribers. U.S. Defense Department is one of its largest customers.

Iridium 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 560-kg Iridium 33 satellite involved in the collision was launched in 1997 while the 900-kg Russian satellite was launched in 1993 and presumed non-operational.

Russian space forces confirms satellite collision

2009-02-12 16:27:22

MOSCOW, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) --

A U.S. Iridium satellite collided with a Russian military satellite on Tuesday, a commander of the Russian Space Forces confirmed on Thursday.

The U.S. Iridium 33 satellite collided with Russia's Cosmos 2251 satellite at an altitude of 800 km at 19:56 Moscow time (1656GMT) on Tuesday, Alexander Yakushin, first deputy commander of the space forces, was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

The Cosmos 2251 satellite was launched in 1993 and had stopped functioning since 1995, he said.

The space forces' cosmic space monitoring equipment is following the debris produced by the collision at altitudes of 500 km to 1,300 km, the official said.

"Data on the amount of debris is being specified," Yakushin said.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) confirmed the collision.

"It is quite likely that the satellites could have collided, as their orbits were very close to each other," Roscosmos press secretary Alexander Vorobyov said in an interview with Russian TV station.

Based on the current circumstances, the debris generated in the collision does not pose a threat to the international space station (ISS), he said, adding that Russia will continue its probe into the incident for more details.

Vorobyov's remarks were supported by Roscosmos' press officer Nasyrov Demyan in a telephone interview with Xinhua.

A spokesman for the agency's flight control center, Valery Lyndin, told Xinhua the ISS is operating well and Roscosmos is collecting and processing relevant data.

Itar-Tass quoted a Russian expert, who declined to give his name, as saying the debris created in the collision could threaten defunct satellites developed in the Soviet era, which were equipped with nuclear reactors.

The debris is scattered in different directions and might collide with Soviet satellites drifting at a similar altitude, thus forming belts of radioactive debris, the expert said.

Nuclear reactors on these satellites, which served the former Soviet Union's navy, were used to provide reliable, durable and comparatively low-cost energy for the satellites, he said.

The U.S. space agency NASA said a Russian satellite and a privately owned U.S. communications satellite collided in space at 11:55 a.m. EST (1655 GMT) on Tuesday, causing two massive clouds of debris.

The collision occurred at roughly 800 km above the Arctic, an altitude used by satellites that monitor weather and carry telephone communications among other things.

News agencies reported that NASA believes the risk posed to the ISS by the collision is low, as the space station orbits at a lower altitude than satellites.

Russian space agency: Satellites collision poses no threats to space station

2009-02-12 16:37:54

MOSCOW, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) --

Debris created in Tuesday's satellites collision does not pose a threat to the international space station (ISS), Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said here Thursday.

A Russian satellite and a privately owned U.S. communications satellite collided in space at 11:55 a.m. EST (1655 GMT) Tuesday shooting out a pair of massive debris clouds, NASA has said.

The Roscosmos has confirmed the collision, Interfax news agency said Thursday.

"It is quite likely that the satellites could have collided, as their orbits were very close to each other," Roscosmos press secretary Alexander Vorobyov said in an interview with Russian TV station.

Based on the current circumstances, the debris generated in the collision does not pose a threat to the ISS, he said, adding Russia will continue its probe into the incident for more details.

Vorobyov was echoed by Roscosmos's press-officer Nasyrov Demyan.

The Russian satellite could be a military one, and the agency cannot yet comment on the incident, Demyan told Xinhua in a telephone interview earlier in the day.

But Roscosmos said it was still not sure of the name and number of the Russian satellite.

The ISS is operating well and Roscosmos is collecting and processing relevant data, Valery Lyndin, spokesman for the agency's flight control center, told Xinhua.

News agencies reported that U.S. space agency NASA believes that the risk to the International Space Station (ISS) caused by a collision of two satellites is low.

The conclusion of low risk was drawn on the fact that the space station flies at a lower altitude than that of the satellite. The space station flies at a lower orbit than the collision course.

The collision occurred at roughly 800 kilometers, an altitude used by satellites that monitor weather and carry telephone communications among other things.

Expert: Debris of space collision may pose danger to spacecrafts' safety

2009-02-12 11:55:59

BEIJING, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) --

A Chinese space expert said on Thursday that the massive debris of the satellite collision might pose grave but controllable danger to other spacecrafts in case they hit them.

"The debris of the two big satellites may create holes on other spacecrafts, or even bigger losses, once they hit them," Pang Zhihao, a Chinese expert on space techniques, told Xinhua.

"The degree of the possible danger's graveness depends on the number, size and flying direction of the debris," he said.

He predicted that a debris's flying speed may reach 7.8 kilometers per second, or even faster, and may remain in space for decades.

According to Pang, space waste mainly consists of defunct satellites and satellite detectors, entire spent rocket stages as well as junks or belongings tossed out by astronauts.

There are approximately 17,000 pieces of space debris that are larger than 10 cm and can be currently detected. The number of pieces smaller than 10 cm is up to 10,000. They were mainly produced by the United States and Russia.

But such a large amount of debris has not crowded the near-Earth space, Pang said.

The expert mentioned that there are several ways to monitor the situation in a bid to prevent any danger to the space station as many fear that the debris might hit the station, thereby threatening the safety of the astronauts in the station.

Pang said the monitoring on spacecrafts should be enhanced and the defunct crafts in space should be taken under remote control so as to limit such dangers in the future.

The ability of orbit changing of the spacecrafts is very important, pang said.

The cause of the collision was still unknown, Pang said, adding it depends on further details by both U.S. and Russian space administration.

The collision, which occurred at 11:55 a.m. EST (1655 GMT) Tuesday, involved a 560-kg U.S. Iridium commercial satellite launched in 1997, and a 900-kg Russian satellite launched in 1993 and presumed non-operational.

The Russian Federal Space Agency has confirmed the collision to Xinhua, but it refused to make any comment on the incident.

In 1996, a French communication satellite was hit by a piece of debris from Ariane 5, which left damages on an observation equipment. Similar incidents occurred several times but it was the first such collision between large satellites in space.

Space junk has posed a growing concern in the countries which pursue space exploration in recent years, since collisions at orbital velocities can be highly damaging to functioning satellites and can also produce even more space debris.

Editor: Du Guodong

NASA: Space collision poses low risk to int'l space station

2009-02-12 13:38:44

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) --

U.S. space agency NASA believes that the risk to the International Space Station (ISS) caused by a collision of two satellites is low, news agencies reported on Wednesday.

One privately owned U.S. communications satellite collided with a defunct Russian satellite in space Tuesday, shooting out a pair of massive debris clouds and posing possible risks to the international space station.

The conclusion of low risk was drawn on the fact that the space station flies at a lower altitude than the satellite. The space station flies at a lower orbit than the collision course.

The collision occurred at roughly 800 kilometers, an altitude used by satellites that monitor weather and carry telephone communications among other things.

A Chinese space expert said on Thursday that the massive debris of the satellite collision may pose grave danger to other functioning spacecrafts in case they hit them.

"The debris of the two big satellites may create holes on other spacecrafts, or even bigger losses, once they hit them," Pang Zhihao, a Chinese expert on space techniques, told Xinhua.

"The degree of the possible danger's graveness depends on the number, size and flying direction of the debris," he said.

He predicted that a debris's flying speed may reach 7.8 kilometers one second, or even faster, and may remain in space for decades.

The Iridium craft weighed 1,235 pounds (560 kilograms), and the Russian craft nearly a ton.

Russian space agency spokesman says no comment on satellite collision

2009-02-12 12:34:31

MOSCOW, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) --

A spokesman of the Russian Federal Space Agency told Xinhua on Thursday that he knows nothing about the collision of a Russian satellite with a United States satellite. He refused to comment on the incident.

The spokesman, who declined to give his name, said in a telephone interview with Xinhua that he could not yet confirm the reports about the incident.

One privately owned U.S. communications satellite collided with a defunct Russian satellite in space, shooting out a pair of massive debris clouds, the U.S. NASA said Wednesday.

The debris clouds pose a slight risk to the international space station, it added.

Editor: Du Guodong

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