Satalite Crash

[Bob S]

I'm not to up on GPS satellite location but I was reading about the US and Russian Satellite collision and thought to myself will this have any effect on our GPS's?





"The collision between the Iridium Satellite LLC-operated satellite and the Russian Cosmos-2251 military satellite occurred at about 485 miles above the Russian Arctic.
That is an altitude used by satellites that monitor weather, relay communications and perform scientific observations."


Anyone know?

 

[Roger Long]

I'm not to up on GPS satellite location but I was reading about the US and Russian Satellite collision and thought to myself will this have any effect on our GPS's?

No, but it could cause a temporary coverage deficit for the SPOT Beacon I like so much and some sat phone users. They keep a couple spare satellites "parked" and can move and activate one of them in a couple of days.

It's a reminder though not to let those paper and pencil navigation skills completely atrophy.

 

[dancing bear]

I was thinking one satellite was using the other for a waypoint.

 

[tweitz]

The US satellite that was involved was apparently part of the Iridium network. Iridium phones will continue to operate and they are planning on doing something, but there is a big network of iridium satellites (66 of them), so the loss of one should not be critical. On the other hand, the collision is spewing a lot of space debris in all directions. So the risk to any satellite is higher than normal. The colliding satellites were low earth orbit and the GPS is medium earth orbit, so the risk is not too bad.

 

[Benny]

Are the ruskies back to their old tricks? Is it just a coincidence that our bird was over Russia when the collision took place? A head on collision at 18,000 MPH on those flimsy things don't leave anything much bigger than a spec of dust. I would not worry about GPS reception.

 

[Manny]

small particles bad

Are the ruskies back to their old tricks? Is it just a coincidence that our bird was over Russia when the collision took place? A head on collision at 18,000 MPH on those flimsy things don't leave anything much bigger than a spec of dust. I would not worry about GPS reception.

Those small particles are just as dangerous as the large ones. A grain of sand traveling at 17,500 mph will do a lot of damage. An astronaut on an eva would be at serious risk. I read that Nasa moved the ISS to a higher orbit for it's protection. The other problem with the smaller particles is that they are more difficult to track, as opposed to the larger objects where controllers can alter a satellite's course to evade.

Manny

 

[All U Get]

Good thought Manny, how long will it take before that stuff comes down? The effects will be felt for many years as the debris spreads and impacts other objects. Just one more area that we've altered for future generations.
All U Get

 

[Roger Long]

Zac Sutherland, now in Cape Town, reports that he was told by Iridum to expect minor and temporary problems with his Sat Phone and has, in fact, had some.