See real-time debris data from Iridium/Cosmos collision

William Atkins
Saturday, 28 February 2009 20:35

Science - Space

The orbital debris from the collision of the U.S. Iridium 33 satellite and the Russian Cosmos 2251 satellite can now be tracked in real-time by using Google Earth and an Orbiting Frog. See how to do it here!


The U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), U.S. Strategic Command (STATCOM), and other such tracking organizations are currently plotting the orbital positions of the debris left over after these two satellites collided in space.

This collision happened at 1655 Universal Time (UT) on February 10, 2009, about 490 miles (790 kilometers) over northern Siberia in Russia.

A simulation of the impact—based on the relative orbital parameters of the two satellites—is found on the SpaceWeather.com website “Colliding Satellites.”

Their two distinctive orbits (with very different inclinations) crisscrossed each other at the same altitude above the Earth.

Such a collision in space emphasizes the need to establish a space traffic control system, similar to the one we have here on Earth: the FAA's Air Traffic Control System.

Check out the November 8, 2008 Space.com article "Out There: Space Traffic Control system Needed."

When the two satellites collided, and were destroyed, the relative speed of impact was about 22,000 miles per hour (10 kilometers per second).

Page two provides additional information on the space collision, along with the danger from these fragments orbiting about Earth.