Now You See It, Now You Don't

[Speed]

For those that haven’t heard, the Iranians launched a communications satellite into low earth orbit on February 3rd.

I heard this morning that someone mentioned to his Congressman that the Iranians planned on using it to tell the world that the end of the world was here, and that an Iranian messiah was coming. He also mentioned to his Congressman that the Air Force has an airborne laser on a 747 designed to shoot down ICBM warheads as high as 300 miles up in space, and suggested that it might be time to test it.

On February 10th, the Iranian satellite could no longer be found.

One of the sites I frequent is SpaceWeather.com. They list satellite flybys of some of the brighter and more interesting satellites, like the ISS, the ISS toolbag, the Hubble telescope, and various spy and communications satellites. (I have used this site to set up and take pictures of the ISS.) After the Iranians launched their satellite, they listed both the satellite and the rocket booster that put it into orbit. I checked this morning, and low and behold, the booster is listed, the satellite isn’t!

Draw your own conclusions.

http://www.spaceweather.com/flybys/flybys.php?zip=28570

[jetrim]

This list could change at any time in responce to current events, so stay tuned!

LOL draw your own conclusions indeed

[Speed]

"Cha, cha, cha, changes..."

From an old song.

You can't see what's not there. That is for sure and for certain!

[SmartWombat]

Probably it's not visible in the near future.
It's on the list for me, http://www.spaceweather.com/flybys/s...re&city=Oxford

But only 5, 6, or 10 days in the future.

Omid (Iranian satellite) 05:47:00 am WSW 05:49:22 72° 4.1 (dim)
Omid (Iranian satellite) 05:53:48 am WSW 05:56:10 72° 4.1 (dim)
Omid (Iranian satellite) 04:41:35 am NNE 04:43:57 69° 4.2 (dim)

So the orbit doesn't cross our skies every day.

[photophorous]

What a coincidence:

Wed. Feb. 11
"Iridium Satellite LLC confirmed today that one of its (communication) satellites was destroyed Tuesday in an unprecedented collision with a spent Russian satellite..."

http://www.space.com/news/090211-sat...collision.html

A few days after that collision there was a mysterious fireball spotted over Austin, which was originally explained as satellite debris and then later changed to a meteor.

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/r...sky_over_Texas

Hmmm...I think we're on to something here.

Paul

[Speed]

Possibly, as their orbits take them around the world and you can't see them every night. However, the booster rocket is in the same orbit as the satelite it launched. So the $64,000 question is, can you see the satelite? I'm going to continue to monitor Space Weather and see if they list it. But it was not on the list when I checked yesterday, even though the booster was. Time will tell.

[Speed]

What a coincidence:

Wed. Feb. 11
"Iridium Satellite LLC confirmed today that one of its (communication) satellites was destroyed Tuesday in an unprecedented collision with a spent Russian satellite..."

http://www.space.com/news/090211-sat...collision.html

A few days after that collision there was a mysterious fireball spotted over Austin, which was originally explained as satellite debris and then later changed to a meteor.

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/r...sky_over_Texas

Hmmm...I think we're on to something here.

Paul

I read about the collision in space. But that was a Russian military communications satelite and an American communications satelite that collided in space.

The fireball seen in Austin was determined to be a meteor. Earth's atmosphere gets hit by about 10 large meteors (one meter or larger) every year. These are very bright and usually explode, and hence are known as fireballs. Most of these hit over the oceans or at night when folks are sleeping and are never seen. In the past four months, there have been three or four that have been seen, including the one in Austin which was seen during the day. That is very unusual, but it has happened before.

However, since the Russian and American satelites collided, every bright meteor or fireball seen is suspected to be pieces of debris from the collision. Some of those pieces may eventually re-enter the atmosphere, but right now they are scattered about in orbit from about 300 miles up to 800 miles up.

[photophorous]

I read about the collision in space. But that was a Russian military communications satelite and an American communications satelite that collided in space.

The fireball seen in Austin was determined to be a meteor. Earth's atmosphere gets hit by about 10 large meteors (one meter or larger) every year. These are very bright and usually explode, and hence are known as fireballs. Most of these hit over the oceans or at night when folks are sleeping and are never seen. In the past four months, there have been three or four that have been seen, including the one in Austin which was seen during the day. That is very unusual, but it has happened before.

However, since the Russian and American satelites collided, every bright meteor or fireball seen is suspected to be pieces of debris from the collision. Some of those pieces may eventually re-enter the atmosphere, but right now they are scattered about in orbit from about 300 miles up to 800 miles up.

Hey, I thought we were talking "conspiracy theory" here?! Why are you trying to be so logical? I mean, come on, "spent Russian Satellite?" Really? :skep: That could be just about anything.

[Speed]

Hey, I thought we were talking "conspiracy theory" here?! Why are you trying to be so logical? I mean, come on, "spent Russian Satellite?" Really? :skep: That could be just about anything.

Oh, my bad!

You did hear that there are over 13,000 objects orbiting earth. (I've read that the figure is closer to 17,000) Most are considered space debris - old satelites that no longer work, upper stage boosters still in orbit, that sort of thing...

BUT, did you know that approximately 25% of that debris is from the Chinese shooting down one of their own satelites? That's right, when they shot down their satelite, they used an explosive warhead that created more than 2,400 pieces of space debris between the satelite and the rocket/warhead package used to shoot it down. BTW, that figure is everything 4 inches across and larger, that can be tracked with ground based radars. The figure for smaller pieces is as high as 150,000!

So, were the Chinese merely demonstrating that they could shoot down a satelite, or is it something more sinister? Are they deliberately filling the space around the earth with debris to make it unsafe for future spaceflights? Or are they the control center for CHAOS, and for an exorbitant fee, they will clean up their mess so the rest of the world can safely put people and satelites into orbit? Hmmmm...

Here's the article on that:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/39551797.html

[Mr Yuck]

Here's a theory that was posted on another forum:

US: Sorry Russia, looks like one of our commercial satellites crashed into one of your satellites...who would have thought that would happen?

Russia: Oh no problem.

...Iranian satellite disappears...

US: Oops, sorry Iran, looks like one of our satellites collided with your satellite...these things happen you know, look what recently happened with the Russian satellite.

Iran: grrrr... :mad5:
UK:

[photophorous]

Oh, my bad!

You did hear that there are over 13,000 objects orbiting earth. (I've read that the figure is closer to 17,000) Most are considered space debris - old satelites that no longer work, upper stage boosters still in orbit, that sort of thing...

BUT, did you know that approximately 25% of that debris is from the Chinese shooting down one of their own satelites? That's right, when they shot down their satelite, they used an explosive warhead that created more than 2,400 pieces of space debris between the satelite and the rocket/warhead package used to shoot it down. BTW, that figure is everything 4 inches across and larger, that can be tracked with ground based radars. The figure for smaller pieces is as high as 150,000!

So, were the Chinese merely demonstrating that they could shoot down a satelite, or is it something more sinister? Are they deliberately filling the space around the earth with debris to make it unsafe for future spaceflights? Or are they the control center for CHAOS, and for an exorbitant fee, they will clean up their mess so the rest of the world can safely put people and satelites into orbit? Hmmmm...

Here's the article on that:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/39551797.html

I remember when the Chinese blew up that satellite and the controversy it caused, but I didn't realize it accounted for 25% of all the low orbit space debris. That's a lot! Space debris is one of the big concerns about "weaponizing" space. We could end up with a giant mess up there, interfering with communication satellites and such. It's not exactly something you can clean up with your average hoover...although "vacuum cleaner" is a rather appropriate name for such a device. But, I digress.

Everyone knows that was all part of an elaborate scheme by the Chinese to put on the worlds greatest fireworks show. All of that "debris" was supposed to reenter the earths atmosphere during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Unfortunately, it was manufactured to such loose tolerances that it didn't work and had to be added digitally. Now it's destined to turn the Hubble into the worlds most expensive kaleidoscope. On a positive note, if the ISS astronauts can get their hands on any of that debris, it's undoubtedly high lead content would make excellent solder for repairing damaged solar panels. Zing!

Paul

[photophorous]

Here's a theory that was posted on another forum:

US: Sorry Russia, looks like one of our commercial satellites crashed into one of your satellites...who would have thought that would happen?

Russia: Oh no problem.

...Iranian satellite disappears...

US: Oops, sorry Iran, looks like one of our satellites collided with your satellite...these things happen you know, look what recently happened with the Russian satellite.

Iran: grrrr... :mad5:
UK:

Mr. Yuck, I think you're on to something. We'll have to monitor your activity on the site now so we know if you get nabbed by the CIA. Shhh. They're listening.

Paul

[Mr Yuck]

There's no such thing as the CIA.

[Speed]

I remember when the Chinese blew up that satellite and the controversy it caused, but I didn't realize it accounted for 25% of all the low orbit space debris. That's a lot! Space debris is one of the big concerns about "weaponizing" space. We could end up with a giant mess up there, interfering with communication satellites and such. It's not exactly something you can clean up with your average hoover...although "vacuum cleaner" is a rather appropriate name for such a device. But, I digress.

Everyone knows that was all part of an elaborate scheme by the Chinese to put on the worlds greatest fireworks show. All of that "debris" was supposed to reenter the earths atmosphere during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Unfortunately, it was manufactured to such loose tolerances that it didn't work and had to be added digitally. Now it's destined to turn the Hubble into the worlds most expensive kaleidoscope. On a positive note, if the ISS astronauts can get their hands on any of that debris, it's undoubtedly high lead content would make excellent solder for repairing damaged solar panels. Zing!

Paul

You got me there!

And that is an excellent idea about the lead! That is, if they had any lead left over after putting it in our food, on our kids toys, on all the bright shiny plastic items they import to us - you get the idea.

We will definitely have to keep a sharper eye on those guys...

[Speed]

Here's a theory that was posted on another forum:

US: Sorry Russia, looks like one of our commercial satellites crashed into one of your satellites...who would have thought that would happen?

Russia: Oh no problem.

...Iranian satellite disappears...

US: Oops, sorry Iran, looks like one of our satellites collided with your satellite...these things happen you know, look what recently happened with the Russian satellite.

Iran: grrrr... :mad5:
UK:

I like it!!! That had me laughing out loud!!!

Set it up to look like something else. Genius!!!

Ooops, we're having problems with our satelites crashing into other satelites lately. Expensive way to remove the "competition" though. But God, it is funny!!!

:-D

[Speed]

Mr. Yuck, I think you're on to something. We'll have to monitor your activity on the site now so we know if you get nabbed by the CIA. Shhh. They're listening.

Paul

And watching.

Better be real careful, or they might lose control of a satelite and it will crash into your house.

[Speed]

You may be onto something there. I recently read that the guys who work at, and out of, Langley, all carry ID's that say "State Department".
So they are all diplomats, not spies!

[hollis]

so if a satellite crashes into Mtbr & PR's server farm :smilewinkgrin:

[Speed]

so if a satellite crashes into Mtbr & PR's server farm :smilewinkgrin:

Then we are all going to be very sad!

[Speed]

From SpaceWeather.com today:

SATELLITE DEBRIS: US Strategic Command is still cataloguing debris from the Feb. 10th satellite collision over northern Siberia. "The count is now at 109 catalogued fragments for Iridium 33 and 245 for Kosmos 2251," says satellite observer Daniel Deak, who has prepared some 3D maps of the debris for readers of spaceweather.com. Click on the image to view a snapshot of Kosmos fragments on Feb 26th:

These maps reveal in full what earlier, less complete maps strongly hinted: Kosmos debris is scattered more widely than Iridium. "Kosmos fragments range in altitude from 250 km to 1690 km," says Deak. For comparison, "Iridium fragments range only from 525 km to 1092 km." Kosmos fragments descend all the way down to the 350 km orbit of the ISS. The space station is in little danger, however; most of the Kosmos scatter is over the Antarctic where the ISS does not go.

The total debris count now stands at 354 pieces. Says Deak, "There are surely more to come."

FEB 27th UPDATE: Since these maps were posted on Feb. 26th, the catalogued fragment count has jumped from 354 to 414.


http://www.spaceweather.com/

[Speed]

SATELLITE DEBRIS: The Feb 10th collision of Kosmos 2251 and Iridium 33 over northern Siberia had an uneven effect on the two satellites. Both were shattered, but Kosmos was broken into twice as many trackable pieces as Iridium, and the Kosmos pieces were scattered into a significantly wider band of orbits:

This debris map, created by Daniel Deak of Canada, traces the orbits of 129 Iridium and 275 Kosmos fragments. A side-view of the Kosmos data illustrates the degree to which the Russian satellite is "polluting" the near-Earth environment. "Kosmos fragments range in altitude from 227 km to 1690 km," notes Deak. For comparison, "the Iridiuim fragments are more tightly confined between 525 km and 1265 km."

NASA is reportedly concerned about the risks these debris streams pose to the space shuttle Atlantis when it visits the Hubble Space Telescope for servicing in mid-May 2009. The agency is evaluating the situation, and an update is expected in the near future.