SPACE — On February 10, 1958, scientists at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory reflected radar waves from the planet Venus. At that time, Venus was at a point in its inner orbit called inferior conjunction, which is the point directly between the Earth and the Sun.
The scientists beamed radar signals toward Venus, which was then about 28 million miles away. That distance was slightly shorter than scientists expected, meaning Venus was actually closer to Earth than scientists believed at the time.
It takes about 5 minutes for the signal to bounce off Venus and return to Earth.
3D plot of the relative velocities of the Iradium 33 and Kosmos 2252 collision debris
On February 10, 2009, two destroyed satellites collided in Earth’s orbit. These are the commercial communications satellite Iridium 33 which is still active and the Russian military’s Kosmos 2251 satellite which is no longer active.
Also Read: Today’s History: Phobos Reaches Mars, Challenger Contains 7 Astronauts Explodes Completely
Unfortunately, the two accidentally collided at a speed of 11.7 km per second at an altitude of 789 kilometers above the Taymyr Peninsula in Siberia. NASA said the collision between the two was the most severe accidental fragmentation ever recorded.
More than 1,800 pieces of debris as small as 10 cm were scattered from the destruction of the two metal structures. It will take years for the space debris to stop polluting orbit, re-enter and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere.
“Some debris from both satellites will remain in orbit until the end of this century,” wrote NASA commenting on the collision.
It was also the first time a high-speed collision occurred between two satellites. Previous incidents involved satellites and other space debris. Source: Space.com/various sources
2024-02-10 15:37:00
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