<
https://www.sciencealert.com/one-careless-act-of-war-could-destroy-all-satellites-in-just-40-years>
"On one particular day in 2021, astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the ISS must
have felt a pin-prick of fear and uncertainty. On November 15th of that year,
Russia fired an anti-satellite missile at one of its own defunct military
satellites, Tselina-D.
The target weighed about 1,750 kilograms, and when the missile struck its
target, the satellite exploded into a cloud of hazardous debris.
NASA woke the crew on the International Space Station in the middle of the
night and told them to take precautions and prepare for a possible impact. The
Chinese space station Tiangong was also in danger, and multiple countries and
space agencies condemned Russia's foolhardy behavior.
But there was no way to contain the debris.
That event highlighted the risk of ASAT (anti-satellite) weapons. According to
recent research, the cloud of debris from a shattered satellite could create a
cascade of additional collisions that would make LEO unusable in about 40
years."
Via
The RISKS Digest Volume 33 Issue 75:
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/33/75#subj15
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
