I really wonder if it was accidental or if Russia was testing if it could use a defunct satellite as a space weapon.Space weapons are dangerous - but out-of-control, defunct satellites can do just as much damage, if not more.
So says a leading space scientist who has calculated that Tuesday's collision between an Iridium communications satellite and the defunct Soviet-era Cosmos 2251 spacecraft expended a great deal more destructive energy than China's infamous anti-satellite missile test did in January 2007. The detritus could potentially hit a number of Earth observation, communication, and scientific satellites. If that happened, the satellite it struck could itself break up, creating ever more space junk in a cascade effect.
"I really wonder if it was accidental or if Russia was testing if it could use a defunct satellite as a space weapon."
ReplyDeleteMy first thought too. Many satellites have small thrusters for orbit maintenance. These can easily be used to bring it on crash course with other satellites, there really is no need for specialized space weapons.
It will need a lot of effort to keep space usable in the future. These things are truly bad.