Posted on 10/15/2020 2:06:44 PM PDT by BenLurkin
Satellite-tracking company LeoLabs on Wednesday said the defunct objects could come within 39 feet of each other and that there was a 10% chance that they could still collide around 8:56 p.m. ET. The company deemed the potential crash to be a "very high risk."
"This event continues to be very high risk and will likely stay this way through the time of closest approach," LeoLabs tweeted.
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said the two objects were a defunct Soviet navigation satellite called Parus [Kosmos 2004] that launched in 1989 and a Chinese rocket stage.
As of Tuesday, the objects -- with a mass of roughly three metric tons -- were in low-Earth orbit at an altitude of around 615 miles, LeoLabs said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
And the resultant debris field progressively plays havoc on LEO satellites
Whereupon they will create large numbers of new projectiles to create problems for any spacecraft launched or stationed in that orbit. Looks like going forward, any new launches will have to factor in the weight from additional armor plating.
Demolition Derby in space!
I think the Russians win this round.
Their stuff is like a 1964 Ford station wagon.
Not as high tech.
Did I see this in a Bond movie?
Another 2020 gift from China.
That’s why it will blow through that Chinese junk like a frozen chicken through a pancake.
I hope they don’t merge into an unforeseen and malevolent hybrid.
If they can just slow it all down enough, the orbits will decay and the debris will all burn up in the atmosphere.
I had the idea of throwing a giant foam ball into LEO to slow things down, but I’m sure a lot of holes can be poked in that.
10% = high risk = science = give us monies
“Most of the aerospace world is expected to be watching the skies over Antarctica and New Zealand over the next few hours.” https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/10/leolabs-tracking-high-risk-collision-probability/
“...like a frozen chicken through a pancake”
Well that’s the first time I’ve heard such an analogy, but I’ll be sure to use it given the right circumstances!
There will be a very large fireball explosion. Everything in space explodes when it collides.
Gravity, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.
Great movie. Watched it many times, 1st time at the theater.
Chain reaction satellite collision disaster.
1964 Ford station wagon hits 1957 Dodge PU - Ford driver taken to hospital, while Dodge driver, scratching his head, admires the small dent in his car.
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