Space crash called "catastrophic," lots of debris By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV – 3 hours ago MOSCOW (AP) — The crash of two satellites has generated an estimated tens of thousands of pieces of space junk that could circle Earth and threaten other satellites for the next 10,000 years, space experts said Friday.

One expert called the collision "a catastrophic event" that he hoped would force President Barack Obama's administration to address the long-ignored issue of debris in space.

Russian Mission Control chief Vladimir Solovyov said Tuesday's smashup of a derelict Russian military satellite and a working U.S. Iridium commercial satellite occurred in the busiest part of near-Earth space — some 500 miles (800 kilometers) above Earth.

"800 kilometers is a very popular orbit which is used by Earth-tracking and communications satellites," Solovyov told reporters Friday. "The clouds of debris pose a serious danger to them."

Solovyov said debris from the collision could stay in orbit for up to 10,000 years and even tiny fragments threaten spacecraft because both travel at such a high orbiting speed.

James Oberg, an experienced aerospace engineer who worked on NASA's space shuttle program and is now a space consultant, described the crash over northern Siberia as "catastrophic event." NASA said it was the first-ever high-speed impact between two intact spacecraft — with the Iridium craft weighing 1,235 pounds (560 kilograms) and the Russian craft nearly a ton.

"At physical contact at orbital speeds, a hypersonic shock wave bursts outwards through the structures," Oberg said in e-mailed comments. "It literally shreds the material into confetti and detonates any fuels."

Most fragments are concentrated near the collision course, but Maj.-Gen. Alexander Yakushin, chief of staff of the Russian military's Space Forces, said some debris was thrown into other orbits, ranging from 300 to 800 miles (500-1,300 kilometers) above Earth.

David Wright at the Union of Concerned Scientists' Global Security said the collision had possibly generated tens of thousands of particles larger than 1 centimeter (half an inch), any of which could significantly damage or even destroy a satellite. Wright, in a posting on the group's Web site, said the two large debris clouds from Tuesday's crash will spread over time, forming a shell around Earth. He likened the debris to "a shotgun blast that threatens other satellites in the region." Meanwhile, there's no global air traffic control system that tracks the position of all satellites. The U.S. military tracks some 17,000 pieces of space debris larger than 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters), along with some 900 active satellites. But its main job is protecting the international space station and other manned spacecraft, and it lacks the resources to warn all satellite operators of every possible close call. "With the amount of spacecraft and debris in orbit, the probability of collisions is going up more rapidly," said John Higginbotham, chief executive of Integral Systems Inc., a Lanham, Maryland-based company that runs ground support systems for satellites. Oberg said the limited accuracy of tracking data and computer calculations makes it impossible to predict collisions, only their probability. He said most satellites also have little fuel to escape what most likely would be a false alarm. "The collision offers a literally heaven-sent opportunity for the Obama administration to take forceful, visible and long-overdue measures to address a long-ignored issue of 'space debris,'" Oberg said. In January 2007, China destroyed one of its own defunct satellites with a ballistic missile at an altitude close to that of Tuesday's collision, creating thousands of pieces of debris which threatened other spacecraft. Both NASA and Russia's Roscosmos agencies said there was little risk to the international space station, which orbits 230 miles (370 kilometers) above Earth, far below the collision point. An unmanned Russian cargo ship docked smoothly Friday at the station, delivering water, food, fuel, oxygen and other supplies as well as a new Russian space suit for space walks. American astronauts Michael Fincke and Sandra Magnus are aboard the station along with Russian Yuri Lonchakov. The crew size will be doubled to six members later this year. AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson in New York and AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report. APress

I wonder if it was really an accident.
"derelict" could just mean "silent running"
and "collision" could really mean "makeshift missile made from nearest craft"
I bet someone was looking at something they shouldn't have and the nearest friendly got activated as a kamikaze.
lot of room up there for stuff, it's like a head on collision on a 10 mile wide freeway between the only 2 cars...

I was watching a show a few days ago on History or Discovery which was talking about this very thing. They were saying that there is a huge amount of garbage in orbit, for which there is a group dedicated to tracking just so our satellites don't crash into it. There is always a chance of collision, but it's slim. That chance is increasing for every bit of metal we send up...even a tiny piece is a bullet that can cause terrible damage.

Wasnt there some story about back in the day where the only 2 cars in some state did manage to have an accident with each other?

Question becomes; short of limiting our launch of satellites, how do we mitigate these particles without damaging existing necessary satellites?

I'm thinking something like directed energy 'solar wind' device to knock objects out of stable orbit, either to burn up or move away from the planet. Just keep aiming it AWAY from known satellites

DALLAS — The fireball that blazed across the Texas sky and sparked numerous weekend calls to law enforcement agencies now can be considered an identified flying object.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday the fireball was a natural phenomenon — not flying space junk — and a North Texas astronomer said more specifically that it was probably a pickup truck-sized meteor with the consistency of concrete.

The object was visible Sunday morning from Austin to Dallas and into East Texas.

In Central Texas, the Williamson County sheriff's office received so many emergency calls that it sent a helicopter aloft to look for debris from a plane crash.

The FAA backed off its weekend claim that the fireball was caused by falling debris from colliding satellites plummeting into earth's atmosphere.

what are the odds

the problem of space debris is old news. It's been a problem for a couple of decades now. I for one am not surprised. We dirty up our own environment and don't clean it (despite how easy it is). Do you really think we would keep space clean? hah!
just wait until we start mining other planets. Our solar system will start looking just like all those star wars planets. junk everywhere... Forget the futuristic images of immaculate domed cities. Some day our moon is going to be the ugliest strip mine you'll ever see.

as for the odds of this happening:

Lots of reasons why it's possible: there are hundreds of satellites, orbiting on average once every 40 minutes. Assuming one orbiting satellite and one stationary satellite, that means every 40 minutes they pass each other. 36x per day, 13 thousand times a year, and many them have been there for 20+ years. yeah, odds of winning the lottery are almost zero, but buy ten thousand tickets every week and you'll probably win multiple times before you die.

Also: as the article alludes to, orbit paths are generally placed in a particular zone for optimal cost/performance. They have to share "driving" lanes

Also: orbits are erratic. They cannot be perfectly plotted. To ensure no collision, you need a safety zone much much larger than your satellite.

Also: lack of information sharing. Sure, 2 cars on empty highway won't hit, but that's because they can see each other pass. Imagine negotiating a highway with invisible cars... Most satellites aren't equipped with sensors, and as the article mentions, there is no organization that actually "controls" traffic. Even if there was, there are likely secret satellites up there too, designed to be hard to spot, and whose purpose is kept under wraps.

And then there is the debris. A grain of sand at orbital speed will rip a through anything. imagine what the debris from 1.5 tons of former satellite is gonna do...

No. We will all die in 2012 or shortly after, so whatever mining you think we'll be doing must be confused with the mining of the AlphaCentaurians in the coming centuries.

LOL ya dooms day 2012 LOL