On February 10, at an altitude of 790 km above Siberia, an orbital accident occurred: the Soviet military satellite weighing his term weighing 900 kg collided with the current American communication satellite Iridium. Where were the traffic cops - the New Times found out
What happened?
Our Russian military satellite, launched 15–20 years ago and has not been functioning for a long time, met with an “American”. Moreover, most likely, the power of our apparatus was not from solar panels, but from radioactive isotopes. The Russian military, as usual, hide, and the Americans openly talk about it. The satellite worked and flew with a dead pile of metal and equipment, cosmic garbage. As for the American object, it was a telecommunications satellite: it moved in the same orbit. The speed of each was about 8 km per second. Their intersection in oncoming courses is equivalent to a small nuclear explosion. We do not know how they flew and what was the nature of the accident - either the forehead in the forehead, or “struck” each other - the effect is close in any case. As a result, two large clouds of fragments formed in the near -Earth space at an altitude of 790 km. Now there is a danger that these clouds of space garbage may encounter other companions, cargo ships or a space station.
What is the danger of radioactive infection?
She is. But now the fragments are high enough, but if a large piece falls ... In the early 60s in the north of Canada, our companion fell-and there the radiation background immediately grew. The USSR rejected as best he could, but when the parts of the device were found, they also found an indication of the place of manufacture. We were forced to pay $ 40 million.
And what about the American companion?
He was acting. When the first satellite was brought to orbit in 1957, no one thought that these devices would be used in such a number of industries as it is now. All this time, countries did not think what they were doing, and hung more and more objects on orbits. Now in the near -Earth space - more than 12 thousand large objects (with a diameter of more than 1 m). Moreover, tens of thousands of different fragments. And all this moves at a speed of 8 km/s! Even a huge ISS is sometimes forced to dodge the maneuver from this iron. This is not a tank, you can’t hang armor on it.
And what to do about it?
The movement of satellites is uncontrollable. After the conclusion, they move through ballistic orbits. To throw it from orbit into the dense layers of the atmosphere where it burns out, the engine and control systems need to be put on it. That is, the payload will double, and the received information will drop. Nobody wants to do this.
I offered this garbage in the near -Earth space every 3 or 11 years to clean, as a vacuum cleaner, and live calmly. It's not only about the danger of a clash. After all, this garbage delays the passage of solar radiation. So you can destroy all your life on earth ...
Yuri Viktorovich Chudetsky - Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor of the Faculty of Aerospace of the Moscow State Aviation Institute. From 1974 to 1990 he headed the design of the head units of ballistic missiles in the then terribly secret TsNIIMASH, was engaged in covering combat order from orbit. Laureate of the USSR State Prize. For about 20 years he has been dealing with asteroid and environmental safety, cosmic garbage.
