Another potential Space Debris Incident

Lazarus

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Sad to say, but this kind of thing is inevitably going to be a regular occurrence unless effective means of reducing junk are developed (and the money found to implement them).

Insurance costs will rise, too.
 

PaulR

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Nearly all of the objects sent into orbit are still up there. Unfortunately not all of them are still in one piece!
 

Channel Hopper

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A glancing blow apparently, but I doubt they will get it back into service.

A tiny Ecuadoran satellite that collided in space with the remains of a Soviet rocket survived the crash, but was damaged and is not transmitting, Quito's space agency said on Thursday.
Ecuador's space agency EXA had warned on Wednesday that a space fender-bender was likely between its “Pegaso” (Pegasus) nanosatellite and the remains of an S14 rocket launched by the Soviet Union into space in 1985, in the midst of the Cold War.
The agency's director Ronnie Nader said in a Twitter message that US space officials confirmed Pegaso had suffered only a glancing blow from the space debris.
“It was a not a direct hit,” tweeted Nader, Ecuador's first and only astronaut. “Pegasus remains in orbit.”
He added that despite the collision, which occurred around 0538 GMT about 1 500 kilometres (930 miles) above the east coast of Madagascar, the satellite seemed to be holding its course.
Later data indicated that the nanosatellite - a cube measuring just 10 by 10 by 75 centimetres (four by four by 30 inches), not counting its solar panels, and weighing 1.2 kilograms (2.6 pounds) - actually struck tiny debris in the particle cloud surrounding the Soviet space junk.
The EXA said that the satellite's antenna had “lost its orientation and the craft is spinning wildly over two of its axes, so it cannot currently receive transmissions or send commands.”

http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/science/space/ecuador-satellite-hits-soviet-era-space-junk-1.1521111#.UaILb9LUmLw

Check out the size of the thing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EUsbXuB4wI
 

Analoguesat

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You need to be logged in to heavens-above to get the passes otherwise you dont get a sensible result.
Heres the pass info for Gala
 

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Channel Hopper

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You won't see Pegaso regardless of where you are.
It's 3 feet wingtip to wingtip (if they are still stuck on) and spinning on two axes.

For it to be hit in under a month from launch suggests its either very busy up there, the original orbit wasn't thought out particularly well, or it was little more than a publicity stunt and some praying she might last longer than the first 'bleep'.
 

Analoguesat

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There loads of these "cubesats" being launched now. They are cheap to build and cheap to launch. Hence the number of "space nations" is increasing rapidly - Estonia launched their first home built satellite a few weeks ago
 

Channel Hopper

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The number of 'incidents' can only go up if they launch into a piece of space that has a fuel tank enroute.
 
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