Latest Space debris Stories

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online The findings from the 6th European Conference on Space Debris were released during a press briefing at the ESA's European Space Operations Center (ESOC) in Darmstadt, Germany. The conference included over 350 worldwide participants representing all the major national space agencies, industry, governments, academia and research institutes. “There is a wide and strong expert consensus on the pressing need to act now to begin...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Hundreds of experts from all over the world will be meeting at Europe's largest-ever space debris forum next week to discuss the latest findings on the growing problem of space junk. Space debris not only poses problems to other satellites and spacecraft in orbit but it is also hazardous to astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Scientists believe there could be around 29,000 objects larger than 4 inches, 670,000...

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online An article coming out in the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets pitches ideas to attempt to remove orbital debris with less risk. The article, authored by Kerry Nock and Dr. Kim Aaron, of Global Aerospace Corporation (GAC), and Dr. Darren McKnight, of Integrity Applications Incorporated, Chantilly, VA, compared in-orbit debris removal options regarding their potential risk of creating new orbital debris or disabling working satellites...

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The giant Chicxulub crater in Yucatan is evidence that sometime around 65 million years ago a massive asteroid smashed into the earth wiping out most life that existed at that time, including all non-avian dinosaurs. While it is hard to imagine a similar scenario taking place today, there is currently little that we could do but sit and “pray.” That is unless, of course, the government can do more now to ensure scientists have...

Brett Smith for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Besides ruining the appearance of a landscape, litterbugs contribute to unsanitary and unsafe conditions, resulting in many communities issuing steep fines for anyone caught tossing their trash where it doesn’t belong. A recent event involving a Russian satellite suggests that we may have to take our approach to litterbugs and apply it to outer space as well. According to a report from the Colorado-based Analytical Graphics, Inc....

Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online According to an aeronautics and astronautics professor at Stanford University, "space dust" is the likely culprit behind why satellites fail. Satellites are threatened by both asteroids and "space junk," which are particles of man-made debris that orbit Earth. However, the threat from these impacts is actually relatively low, and most satellites that have died in space were knocked out by something entirely different. Space dust,...

redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports - Your Universe Online The first Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launch of 2013 – and the organization’s 101st such mission overall – is scheduled to take place Monday morning, as a four-stage rocket will carry a payload of seven satellites into space, according to various media reports. On Sunday evening, an unidentified ISRO official told the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) the countdown was progressing smoothly and on schedule, and the...

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Initial reports put last Friday’s (Feb 15) Chebarkul meteorite that exploded over Russia’s Urals region at about 10 tons. But after careful analysis, NASA released new information that puts the meteorite closer to 10,000 tons—1,000 times larger than the estimated size reported by the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). “My guess is that someone eyeballed the videos and made an educated guess,” said Margaret...

NASA Science Rewind to the late 1950s. The Soviet Union had just launched the first artificial satellite, Sputnik. The United States, caught short, was scrambling to catch up, kick-starting a Cold War space race that would last for decades. Space was up for grabs, and it seemed like anything could happen. Into this void stepped the United Nations. In 1958, the General Assembly "recognizing the common interest of mankind in furthering the peaceful use of outer space ... and desiring to...

[Watch Video: RRM Day One - Captured] Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online NASA is about to take a new step in advancing robotic satellite-servicing technologies by testing the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM). The space agency's investigation could impact the satellites that deliver products Americans rely on daily, such as weather reports, cell phones and television news. Controllers will be using the International Space Station's (ISS) remotely operated Special...