For the first time two satellites into orbit crashed
The impact occurred over northern Siberia. Concerned because the debris-scattered more than 500 - could affect the International Space Station.
officials spatial area of \u200b\u200bRussia and the United States track since yesterday hundreds of debris thrown into space when an American satellite collided with a Russian military satellite that had ceased operations. The collision, which according to Russian officials on Tuesday took place around 17.00 GMT on the north of Siberia, is the first shock of satellites that are publicly known and has caused concern for the safety of the ISS.
About 6,000 satellites have been sent into space since the former Soviet Union launched the first inhabited orbiter, Sputnik 1, 1957. Of these, 3,000 are still operating, according to NASA.
"This is the first time that two satellites in orbit collide," said Commodore Les Kodlick Strategic Command United States. "We are looking for more than 500 pieces of debris," Lt. Charlie Drey revealed Command spokesman. Kodlik noted that such debris caused the collision between a satellite company Iridium Satellite LLC and a Russian military satellite Cosmos-2251 may be forced to countries with a presence in space to do more maneuvers to avoid them.
shock took place at an altitude of 780 miles over the frozen wastes of the Russian Arctic, altitude of the orbiting weather satellites, communications and scientific observation.
"It is very important to many orbiting satellites, a journey that is key," said Kodlick.
The Joint Space Operations Center of the United States was tracking 500 to 600 new pieces of debris, some as young as 10 centimeters, in addition to 18,000 other manmade objects had already documented, he said.
The Russian Space Forces reported to be following the path of debris that had spread at altitudes of between 500 and 1,300 kilometers above the Earth.
The priority is to monitor the International Space Station (ISS), orbiting at 350 km, well below the altitude of the collision. Its orbit can be changed by controllers on Earth, but even a tiny debris can cause serious damage to the ISS, as it moves to 8 kilometers per second. "If there is any danger to the ISS, have an announcement," a Russian space official. Another added that there was little immediate risk to the station. The ISS was installed ten years ago to facilitate scientific research and space exploration.
The clash has heightened the concern about what they have become crowded paths of the orbits in the last decades.
Nicholas Johnson, a specialist in orbits Johnson Space Center of NASA in Houston, said it was unclear how many new debris had created this strange collision.
"The remains take time to disperse and allow a count," he said. NASA receives orbital tracking services of the Department of Defense and usually move their vehicles to avoid space debris.
Among the more than 18,000 objects that tracks the Strategic Command of the United States are operational satellites and beyond service, rocket propellants and debris.
Iridium, a company based in Bethesda, Maryland, said the American satellite was box shaped with wings and weighed about 600 kilos. Russian spacecraft with a cylinder and a weight of between 800 and 850 kilos, was launched in June 1993 and ceased operations in 1995, according to the Russian Space Forces.
Iridium satellite constellation operates the world's largest business, consisting of 66 satellites plus spare interconnected. Provides voice and data services to areas not reached by terrestrial communication networks.
The operation of the service was still good, although some customers might suffer brief interruptions until carried out temporary repairs should be completed today, said Liz DeCastro, a spokeswoman for Iridium. Iridium said planned over the next thirty days, move one of its orbit spare satellites in the constellation to replace the lost.
Source: ClarÃn
For : THE NEW YORK TIMES. SPECIAL TRANSLATION CLARIN
: Elisa Carnelli
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