Latest Space debris Stories

A large U.S. spy satellite has lost power and could hit the Earth in late February or March, government officials said Saturday.The satellite, which no longer can be controlled, could contain hazardous materials, and it is unknown where on the planet it might come down, they said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is classified as secret."Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the...

Text of report by Russian newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda on 30 March [Article by Vitaliy Denisov from material of Colonel Vladimir Lyaporov, commander of the Space-Control Force: "Through the Prism of Optical Assets"] The Russian system of space control (SKKP) has accumulated sufficient experience of the accomplishment of diverse objectives involving not only the surveillance of objects in space but also determination of the time and area of their impact. Unique work has been performed in...

If you stare at the Moon long enough, you start seeing things. "82 things to be exact," says Bill Cooke, leader of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Group. That's how many "transient phenomena" the group has video-taped since they started monitoring the night side of the Moon in Nov. 2005. "In 107 hours of observing, we've tallied 20 lunar meteors + at least 60 Earth-orbiting satellites + one airplane + one terrestrial meteor = 82 in all."This is the first systematic...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Carbon dioxide emissions from global warming are cooling and shrinking the outermost atmosphere, keeping orbiting spacecraft airborne longer but also increasing the threat that space junk poses to satellites, scientists reported Monday.In a signal of the wide-ranging impacts of climate change, the thinning of the thermosphere, which begins about 60 miles above Earth and extends up to 400 miles, reduces the drag on orbiting spacecraft but also extends the lifespan of space...

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science WriterWASHINGTON -AP - NASA workers inspecting space shuttle Atlantis this week discovered that a tiny piece of space debris had punched a harmless hole in a radiator panel during the shuttle's flight last month.Atlantis' six astronauts were never in danger, NASA spokesman Kyle Herring said Friday.The damage was not to any part of Atlantis' important heat shield, which protects the shuttle from superheated gases during re-entry to Earth's atmosphere.The...

HOUSTON - It's a junkyard out there in space and sometimes astronauts accidentally contribute to the litter.In 1965, the first American spacewalker, Ed White, lost a spare glove when he went outside for the first time. From that time on, astronauts have accidentally added some of the more unusual items to the 100,000 pieces of space trash that circle Earth.Last July, spacewalker Piers Sellers sheepishly reported that he lost a spatula. Nicknamed "spatsat" by space junk watchers, it...

By Jeff FranksHOUSTON -- Astronauts on shuttle Discovery said they consider the orbiter safe for the trip home, but prepared on Friday to inspect it for damage from space debris.They were to use cameras and sensors on a robotic arm to check the spacecraft twice more before their scheduled return to Earth on Monday.Earlier inspections found no damage from debris at launch, but this time the shuttle crew will look for nicks from such things as dust-size "micrometeoroids" that circle...

HOUSTON -- Two days after losing a spatula that now circles Earth with other orbital trash, Discovery's astronauts will check Friday if any other space junk or tiny meteorites have dinged the shuttle's wing.For the first time, NASA will use a 50-foot extension boom attached to the shuttle's robotic arm to examine the spacecraft's left wing for damage from micrometeoroids, the dust-sized debris that is the vast majority of space junk that circles Earth.Sensors and cameras on the boom tip will...

WASHINGTON -- More than 9,000 pieces of space debris are orbiting the Earth, a hazard that can only be expected to get worse in the next few years. And currently there's no workable and economic way to clean up the mess. The pieces of space junk measuring 4 inches or more total some 5,500 tons, according to a report by NASA scientists J.-C. Liou and N. L. Johnson in Friday's issue of the journal Science. Even if space launches were halted now - which will not happen - the collection of debris...

WASHINGTON -- The United States has 413 satellites in space snooping for the government, checking on the weather and relaying the latest pop music, a new database says. That's more than the 382 the rest of the world has spinning above the Earth. The inventory, developed by the Union of Concerned Scientists and released Wednesday, provides details on some of the Pentagon's most secret satellites, which may gather images in the dark or take high-resolution pictures from 12,000 miles away....