A worrisome situation in orbit
A worrisome situation arose in orbit, which caught the attention of experts on Wednesday, February 28th. At 8:30 am Kiev time, two satellites passed by each other at a distance of about 20 meters: the malfunctioning Russian «Cosmos 2221» and the active American «TIMED».
Potential collision avoided
This information is reported by Live Science, citing NASA data. It is noted that specialists observed the event but could not influence it. Interestingly, the American space agency warned of a possible satellite collision just an hour before it happened.
The danger of satellite collisions
«The NASA TIMED satellite narrowly avoided a collision with the malfunctioning Russian satellite early in the morning. If the two uncontrolled satellites collided, it could not only have led to the loss of the NASA satellite monitoring the sun’s impact on the Earth’s atmosphere but also potentially trigger a catastrophic chain reaction of collisions with other objects in orbit,» it is reported.
NASA representatives added that a collision between satellites at a speed of 14 km/s could increase the amount of debris in low Earth orbit by 50%.
Orbital collision cascade
Scientists have repeatedly emphasized that the amount of space debris in orbit is rapidly increasing and could cause a cascade of collisions, also known as the Kessler syndrome, as shown in the movie «Gravity» from 2013. This process cannot be stopped and only continues to grow.
The US Department of Defense reports about 30,000 large debris objects in orbit, but according to NASA, the number is much higher. These pieces pose a threat to both satellites and the International Space Station. In 2022, the ISS had to perform evasion maneuvers due to tests of Russian anti-satellite weapons.
