The improbable happened.

Post #304,037 by a6l6e6x 2/12/09 10:04:02 AM Reply	The improbable happened. A privately owned U.S. communications satellite collided with a defunct Russian satellite in the first such mishap in space, a U.S. military spokesman said on Wednesday. The crash, which took place on Tuesday in low-earth orbit, involved a spacecraft of Iridium Satellite LLC and a Russian communications satellite, said Air Force Colonel Les Kodlick of the U.S. Strategic Command. "We believe it's the first time that two satellites have collided in orbit," he said, adding the debris was potentially a problem for space operations. Reuters: http://www.reuters.c...N1140902520090212 We must need a space garbage collector. Alex
Post #304,042 by Another Scott 2/12/09 11:18:49 AM Reply	It's a little surprising it isn't more common. http://www.nytimes.c...RBIT_GRAPHIC.html (A Flash series of graphics.) Cheers, Scott.
Post #304,044 by Silverlock 2/12/09 11:58:20 AM Reply	Let's hope it isn't the start of a chain reaction http://en.wikipedia..../Kessler_Syndrome
Post #304,052 by drook 2/12/09 3:24:18 PM Reply	Anyone remember a sci-fi novel where people didn't look up? There was a brief visit to a planet so completely surrounded by space debris that the stars and sun were not visible. The sky was a constant dusky haze. When the heroes of the book landed, no one saw them until they actually touched down. No one ever thought to look up. It would be like looking down at the ground and expecting to see something under the surface. -- Drew
Post #304,061 by crazy 2/12/09 5:49:34 PM Reply	Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy They were in a cosmic dust cloud, and when a spaceship crash landed, they freaked out, since they were sure they were alone. So they went on a mission to exterminate every form of life in the universe.
Post #304,132 by static 2/13/09 6:54:32 PM Reply	Planet Krikket The dust cloud was actually the supercomputer Hactar who had been dispersed millions of years before. It was central to the novel Life The Universe And Everything. Yes, I'm a bit of a HHGTTG geek; why do you ask? :-) Wade. "Ah -- I take it the doorbell doesn't work?"
Post #304,258 by mhuber 2/17/09 3:43:39 AM Reply	Different one I read in which Canada got tired of various star wars schemes that the US and USSR persisted in and used nuke cannons to launch enough garbage into orbit to prevent any kind of space flight or satellites for a few centuries. Minor plot point in the story. Not a particularly memorable story otherwise.
Post #304,062 by Ashton 2/12/09 5:51:56 PM Reply	Great pictorial. Save Hubbell !! from stupid, nay Idiotic Chinese detonations and ... Chance. But. How???

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