News: US, Russian satellites collide in space

This is the first collide on human history in the space.
It sounds worth to celebate, but definately that there will be more and more these type of event if we keep on not restricting and co-operate for a united traffic regulated machenism.

Hope that we, people, can do this or else we may killed ourselves by the satellites and rubbish that we've sent to the space earlier.


US, Russian satellites collide in space
UNITED STATES
Reuters in Washington
4:30pm, Feb 12, 2009

A privately owned US communications satellite collided with a defunct Russian satellite in the first such collision in space, a US military spokesman said on Wednesday.

The collision, which took place on Tuesday in low-earth orbit, involved a spacecraft of privately owned Iridium Satellite LLC and a “non-operational” Russian communications satellite, said Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Les Kodlick of the US Strategic Command.

“We believe it’s the first time that two satellites have collided in orbit,” he said.

The command’s Joint Space Operations Centre was tracking 500 to 600 new bits of debris, some as small as 10 centimetres across, in addition to the 18,000 or so other man-made objects it has catalogued in space, Mr Kodlick said.

The collision occurred at roughly 780 kilometres, an altitude used by satellites that monitor weather and carry telephone communications among other things, he said.

“It’s a very important orbit for a lot of satellites,” he said.

The International Space Station flies at a lower altitude and is the command’s No 1 priority in attempting to prevent collisions, Mr Kodlick said.