Posts Tagged ‘satellite’

European Space Agency releases space junk images

April 17th, 2008 by Daniel Young | 1 Comment | Filed in Life, Technology

The European Space Agency released these computer generated images of space junk this week. How depressing!

This is from the ESA website:

Between the launch of Sputnik on 4 October 1957 and 1 January 2008, approximately 4600 launches have placed some 6000 satellites into orbit, of which about 400 are travelling beyond geostationary orbit or on interplanetary trajectories.

Today, it is estimated that only 800 satellites are operational – roughly 45 percent of these are both in LEO and GEO. Space debris comprise the ever-increasing amount of inactive space hardware in orbit around the Earth as well as fragments of spacecraft that have broken up, exploded or otherwise become abandoned. About 50 percent of all trackable objects are due to in-orbit explosion events (about 200) or collision events (less than 10).

That’s a lot of scrap metal and circuitry. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was serving a useful purpose but unfortunately it’s just further evidence of our carelessness, recklessness and disdain for our environment.

ESA space junk

It wasn’t that long ago that I blogged about the USA-193 and its Wollongong bound out of orbit trajectory. Fortunately, the Pentagon dealt with it.

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Spy satellite to crash land in Australia NSW

February 18th, 2008 by Daniel Young | 3 Comments | Filed in Blogging

A team of Australian scientists claim that a residential area in the Australian state of New South Wales will be the site of a major international event should the US Administration fail to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite circling the Earth.

USA-193

An team of independent researchers led by Arthur Loaf claim to have worked out the exact landing spot of the USA-193 satellite, should it be allowed to fall to earth in an uncontrolled descent. The satellite is known as NRO launch 21, NROL-21 and L-21.

The satellite, which is the size of a school bus and is loaded with toxic fuel, has been out of ground communication since its launch more than twelve months ago. Last week President Bush released details of a Pentagon plan to shoot the satellite down using ship-fired anti-ballistic or ASAT missiles.

Loaf’s Sydney based team of amateur astronomists claim to have calculated the trajectory of the satelitte, which is expected to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere on March 6th. They believe that the crash landing spot is Wiseman Park, a residential greenland area in Wollongong, a town in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia.

“We’ve used the latest in clear plastic protractor technology to calculate the exact trajectory of this troublesome satellite,” said Loaf, who claims to be a relative of the English Astronomer Patrick Moore. “The force of gravity is inevitable and while it is impossible to know what this satellite is thinking we know how it will act once it begins its decent to Earth. We implore the US administration to act immediately to prevent what could be a tragic incident in Wollongong’s otherwise uneventful history.”

The US administration has been accused of ulterior motives, namely the opportunity to test its controversial missile defence system. Defence commentators have accused the US of wanting to ensure that classified information is kept out of the hands of the people of Wollongong.

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