With the upcoming historically close passage of asteroid 2012 DA14 on February 15, there has been an uptick is discussion of the effects of asteroid impacts on Earth and what, if anything, can be done to prevent them. Less discussed has been Earth’s affect on the asteroid. The small size and low density of asteroids can combine with gravitational fields of large [...]
Post Tagged with: “collision”
UN Report: Space Debris in Low Earth Orbit May Be Reaching the Tipping Point
A report from the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), which is meeting during the 50th Session of the Scientific and Technical Sub-Committee to the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), states that the debris situation in low Earth orbit (LEO) may be reaching a catastrophic tipping point. This tipping point, known as the Kessler Effect, was [...]
Asteroid Mission OSIRIS-REx to Nail Down Yarkovsky Effect
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, due to launch in 2016, has a primary mission of sampling the potentially hazardous asteroid 1999 RQ36. But along the way, OSIRIS-REx is going to investigate some other useful maneuvers, such as how to land on an asteroid, and most importantly, how to predict when an asteroid poses a collision hazard. OSIRIS-REx will aim to improve collision [...]
UFO versus a Weather Balloon: Recent Californian Mystery Solved
It must have been a huge disappointment for all mystery lovers and UFO believers when, shortly after the sighting of a strange object bursting high in the atmosphere above Sacramento, meteorologists pointed out the most probable cause of the phenomenon. Neither an alien spaceship, nor a collision creating space debris, but a simple weather balloon – the type of device used [...]
Apophis Passage Improves Forecasts
The asteroid Apophis has made yet another pass of planet Earth, this one visible only through a high powered telescope. The passage has spurred interest mostly for a could-have-been: the asteroid was once thought to have a 2.7% chance of impacting Earth in 2029. Improved observation resolution has now ruled out such a collision and it is expected that data [...]
Reanalysis of 1883 Observations Suggests a Billion-Ton Comet Buzzed Earth
On 12 August 1883 at 8:00 a.m., Mexico’s Zacatecas Observatory’s boss Jose A. Bonilla was preparing to study the Sun’s corona when he observed an amazing phenomenon. He saw several distant objects that were close together and crossing the solar disc. In the space of two hours, while the sky was clear and he was able to observe, he counted [...]
Space Fence Moves Closer to Construction
The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center recently put out a request for proposal (RFP) for final development and construction of the Space Fence program. Contenders Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have submitted their bids. An award is expected in March 2013. “Space situational awareness is a continual concern and challenge for U.S. and ally nations,” said Ken Francois, Space Fence [...]
News Shorts: North Korea’s Satellite, Yamal-402′s Orbital Correction, and US Congress on NASA Strategy
North Korean Satellite in Orbit, Status Unknown On December 12, North Korea took the world by surprise when it successfully launched a rocket it had failed to launch several times before. The launch of Unha-3 put a satellite in orbit that North Korea says is for weather obervation and that no external nation has been able to puzzle out. South Korea’s [...]
DebriSat: Creating Orbital Debris on Earth
The University of Florida, sponsored by NASA and the US Air Force’s Space Missile Systems Center, is developing DebriSat, a spacecraft created to be purposely destroyed on the ground. “Data gleaned from demolishing DebriSat will be valuable in the short- and long-term” said J. C. Liou of NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office “Collision fragments are expected to dominate the future [...]
International Space Station Dodges Space Debris From 2009 Collision
The International Space Station orbit was raised one kilometer by Russia’s Mission Control Centre to avoid a possible collision with a fragment of the U.S. communications satellite Iridium-33, which collided with the derelict Cosmos 2251 on February 10, 2009 over Siberia. The raising is the 15th unscheduled maneuver to avoid space debris. The collision between Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251 [...]
