When satellites collide..

The last time there was an addition to the debris field around the Earth it came courtesy of a modified SM-3 missile. The latest addition to the approximately 12,500 trackable objects in orbit around this planet was the result of the first known collision of two large satellites – US telecommunications satellite Iridium 33 and defunct Russian military satellite Kosmos 2251. As the BBC report notes, the risk to the International Space Station is believed to be low. Meanwhile, the Professor ponders the legal situation and SpaceWeather wonders whether the Hubble Space Telescope might be affected.. And NewScientistVideo offers an animation of the new debris fields.

And, in case you didn’t already know..


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