Thursday, February 12, 2009

Satellites Collide In Space

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US - Russian

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US and Russian satellites crashed in space, the first known major accident of its kind, creating two clouds of debris that were being tracked by experts. The collision took place 800 kilometers (500 miles) above the Earth. According to Space News, the 900 kilogram (1,980 pound) Russian Cosmos 2251 satellite collided with Iridium's 560-kilogram (1,232-pound) craft at 16:55 GMT, some 790 kilometers (490 miles) above Siberia. Cosmic collisions of space junk are not unheard of, but NASA officials said it was the first involving two intact satellitesSome 6,000 satellites have been sent into space since the Soviet Union launched the first man-made orbiter, Sputnik 1, in 1957.
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