[Names Ash Housewares]

Doh!

[library user]

If nobody’s there to hear it, did it make a sound?

[SIDENET]

That would have been COOL to have seen the collision.

[Joiseydude]

a commercial Iridium communications satellite and a presumably defunct Russian Cosmos satellite ran into each other

Accidently or intentionally?

[Names Ash Housewares]

First thought...

Was it really a collision? or an interception?

Do they know for sure the russian satellite was “defunct”?

[theDentist]

Anyone else get the feeling this was not accidental, but instead a test in case they need to take a satellite out of service but have no rocket or laser to do it? Or have I read too many Tom Clancy novels?

[library user]

This got moved to the chatroom in a hurry.

[sticker]

Tunguska the sequel ?

[NormsRevenge]

at least 300 pieces,, dang, that hurts.

[AvOrdVet]

This makes you wonder why it does not happen more often...

http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/headline_universe/images/orbital_debris_big_jpg_image.html

[Doctor Raoul]

Didn’t DOD buy out the company that put the Iridium up and start using it for military use?

[b4its2late]

More stuff to avoid when flying around up there. And let’s hope the Iranian one up there accidentally collides with something.

[seatrout]

Did either of the satellites’ operators have insurance?

[RichInOC]

WHAT HAPPEN?

[RegulatorCountry]

I’d think there would have been frequent near misses leading up to this, given the speed and the described force of impact. That is, unless somebody’s orbit changed.

How long has this Irridium satellite been operational, and how long has the “presumably defunct” Russian Cosmos satellite been operational? What was the purpose of this “presumably defunct” Russian satellite?

That it occurred over Russian territory adds to my level of curiosity.

Maybe I’ve read too much Clancy, but I’ll suspect that it’s a planned, live kill by Russia until proven otherwise.

[byteback]

So now we have female satellites?

[montanajoe]

This doesn’t make sense. They can track 300 pieces of debris after wards but they can't track a potential collision before hand? Sounds like the Ruski’s had a successful killer satellite test to me..

[r9etb]

but it's not yet clear whether it poses a risk to any other military or civilian satellites

It'd suck to be Iridium today -- at a minimum, the debris poses a direct risk to the rest of their constellation.

[Dumpster Baby]

"KRAPSKI !!"

[wolfcreek]

Guess I won’t using my satellite phone for a while.

[Does so]

Some of this "Iridium" will fall to Earth—creating a fine layer of "Iridium".

;)