William Atkins
Friday, 13 February 2009 21:42
Science -
Space
Page 2 of 6
According to NASA spokesperson Kelly Humphries, the seriousness of the damage left by the two destroyed satellites will not be determined for several weeks at the earliest. [Associated Press: “
2 orbiting satellites collide 500 miles up”]
This space debris spewed into orbit about the Earth adds to the already crowded conditions of our space highways (orbits) circling around the Earth.
Initial analysis of the incident shows there is
“low” risks to the safety of the occupants onboard the International Space Station, which is located in an orbit of 354 kilometers (220 miles), about 436 kilometers (271 miles) below the crash.
The next space shuttle mission for the United States,
STS-119, which is now scheduled to lift off no earlier than on February 22, 2009 to the Space Station has been initially determined to have no risk from the debris damage. However, Humphries states that NASA is “
continuing to analyze any possible risk.” [AP]
The Hubble Space Telescope, which is in a 610-kilometer (379-mile) orbit about the Earth, is not out of danger due to its closer proximity to the 790-kilometer orbit of the colliding satellites.
Tracking stations will be analyzing the drift of these fragments over the next few weeks to determine what danger Hubble is from this new space debris, along with any danger from other satellites in nearby orbits.
Approximately 180 kilometers (112 miles) below the impact orbit, Hubble is clearly at risk from hitting one or more of the fragments.
Page three talks with Dr. Johnson from the Orbital Debris office at the NASA Johnson Space Center, along with reports from other space experts.
