Space Station Trash Plunging to Earth!!

Just imagine all the toxic crap and nuclear stuff that is orbiting us that we are unaware of.
Eventually it is going to re-enter.

Interesting.
I personally know someone with Space Command...and part of his job is to track things in our atmosphere (launches, "ufo", etc etc).

He just told me (non-classified info) that there is approximately 85,000 pieces of "space debris" floating around and every single piece is tracked. They know where every single piece is at all times.

I wonder how much of this space debris is falling to earth that many people think are "alien ufos".

Unfortunately, he wont be working this weekend to watch this enter Earth's atmosphere. That sucks. Id like to hear first hand info on this.

Originally posted by Zarniwoop
Even if it does hit a populated area, the largest peice should be about 40 pounds traveling about 100 mph. Now, I wouldn't want that coming through my roof, but really the odds of anything really bad happening as a result of this are huge to the "against" side.

You obviously haven't met ME. If anyone ever says to me, "Cheer up! The worst that can happen is x." -- Where x=the absolutely least likely, most horrible thing you could ever imagine. -- Then, almost immediately, that very thing is precisely what happens to me. I don't let people give me worst case scenarios anymore, I seem to be a magnet for them coming true.

I think sometimes I must be on the Heart of Gold spaceship powered by the infinite improbability drive from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. My whole LIFE seems infinitely improbable, to the point of being hilarious, in a pathetic kind of way.

I will be writing to you tomorrow from my husband's laptop, my own laptop having been crushed by a 100mph, 40 pound piece of space junk which comes crashing through my ceiling tomorrow morning, courtesy of the Space Station. Just watch.

Apparently WE haven't learned a Damn thing on this planet.

Do we have to trash everything we touch ?

And why don't we have 'trash pickup' space vehicles out there anyway ?
A lot of the Si Fi I read, has guys making a mint picking up space reckage.

Originally posted by greeneyedleo
I personally know someone with Space Command...

Uh huh likely story But your new avatar is killing me

He just told me (non-classified info) that there is approximately 85,000 pieces of "space debris" floating around and every single piece is tracked. They know where every single piece is at all times.

The Green dots are those items tracked and cataloged (satellite, debris, etc... the Red dots are the debris field from the satellite that the Chinese blew up... the line is the ISS path...

I wonder how much of this space debris is falling to earth that many people think are "alien ufos".

February 19, 2007
Russian Rocket explodes in Space



This added 1111 more pieces of debris...



NASA Irresponsible?

One of my favorite subjects. About time we had a thread I could sink my teeth into...

reply to post by OuttaHere

I think sometimes I must be on the Heart of Gold spaceship powered by the infinite improbability drive from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. My whole LIFE seems infinitely improbable, to the point of being hilarious, in a pathetic kind of way.

I will be writing to you tomorrow from my husband's laptop, my own laptop having been crushed by a 100mph, 40 pound piece of space junk which comes crashing through my ceiling tomorrow morning, courtesy of the Space Station. Just watch.

It's not supposed to hit until tonight or early tomorrow morning

I'm sure your computer will escape harm. But if you wake up tomorrow with a yellow bulldozer in front of your house, ignore it and get quickly to the nearest pub for a few pints and some peanuts.

Yeah, well, I have a question. If it lands where people are at, it says not to touch it. You know, the toxins, but my question is, what happens to those toxins when it hits the water? This could be doing a whole lot more destroying than they want to let on.

Slightly related, last night (sunday evening australian time) I was walking back from the shop at about 7pm ish and saw a huge piece of something burning up in the atmosphere. The tail was extremely long and it was pure white. Was an awesome thing to see!

Meh, you have more chance of dying in a horrific road accident than by some space junk landing on you, amazes me how everyone blows stuff outta proportion like this.

On the story though, I agree there should be some international effort to start removing the bigger chunks of debris in space. Maybe have the debris brough to one orbit place, mass them together and build some solar panels on the back off it all? Kinda like some mini solar powered moon base. The power it outputs could be used to power satellites, space telescopes or other equipment they build on the junk moon.

Heck if it ever becomes a reality, the artificial moon could be used as an anchor for a space elevator.

I think NASA really dropped the ball on this one in terms of our safety, just the fact they don't know where it will reenter is really bad. They should have waited until they had room on the next ATV to dispose of it, then at least they could have controlled where the entry interface would have been (granted it's still bad for the atmosphere but it would have been a lot safer).

Originally posted by Rocco21
I think NASA really dropped the ball on this one in terms of our safety,

"Dropped the Ball" I LIKE that

But then a lot of stuff drops in on us with no warning...

Australia: Mystery metal ball an outback space oddity
27 Mar 2008

AN outback farmer is on a mission to identify a strange ball of twisted metal - purported to be fallen space junk - which mysteriously turned up on his remote property.

James Stirton of Cheepie, 130km from Charleville in southwestern Queensland, was heading out to feed cattle on his 40,500-hectare property when he came upon the bizarre-looking blackened ball.

"It was just off the road and I had been going up there every couple of days to feed cattle so I would be surprised if it had been there more than a week," Mr Stirton said.

"We got a shock when we first saw it. I had no idea what it was."

SOURCE


Un-Identified object intrigues inhabitants in Goiás, Brazil
24 Mar 2008

National commission of Nuclear Energy goes to analyze the part to check for radioactivity. Sanitary monitoring recommends that the people do not touch the material.

A sphere, of about one meter in diameter, fell in a farm, Montividiu (GO), this weekend. The object was not heavy and was kneaded with the fall. Inhabitants of the region had not observed the moment when the sphere appeared. The National Institute of Space Research (Inpe) believes the hypothesis of the material to be space garbage.

The agricultural producer Sebastião Marques of the Coast said that the unknown part was hot when it was found. The sphere fell about 150 meters from a house and attracted many curious onlookers. Some expressed fear, others came close to venture opinions on the origin of the unknown object.

SOURCE


Flaming space junk narrowly misses jet
28th March 2007

Pieces of space junk from a Russian satellite coming out of orbit narrowly missed hitting a jetliner over the Pacific Ocean overnight.

The pilot of a Lan Chile Airbus A340, which was travelling between Santiago, Chile, and Auckland, New Zealand, notified air traffic controllers at Auckland Oceanic Centre after seeing flaming space junk hurtling across the sky just five nautical miles in front of and behind his plane about 10pm last night.

www.thewest.com.au...

Notice that the object in Australia and Brazil are similar and there is this flaming piece all within a few days of each other.

Something BIG came down in March 2008

And when ISS Flushes that Toilet... Where does that chunk of ice go?

Huge Block Of Ice Falls From Sky In Oakland
Saturday, April 15, 2006

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Even the experts are having trouble explaining a solid block of ice that fell from the sky, crashed into earth and left behind a three-foot hole in the grass.

The ice fell at Bushrod Park in Oakland early Saturday when homeowner Jacek Purat of Berkeley was waiting nearby to show apartments to prospective renters.

"It was totally amazing. ... I saw this flash, like a streak. Then I saw this explosion, like a big boom! I came over and it (the field) was all covered with ice. Some were this big," Purat said, making a head-size circle with his two hands.

Brooks and Judith Mencher said they were standing on their back porch near the park when they heard a sound like a very loud rocket. "It kind of went 'whoosh!"' Brooks Mencher said.

The impact "knocked turf 20 feet away," according to Oakland Police Sgt. Ron Lighten. No one was injured.

ICE FALLS




[edit on 4-11-2008 by zorgon]

Originally posted by Saf85
On the story though, I agree there should be some international effort to start removing the bigger chunks of debris in space. Maybe have the debris brough to one orbit place, mass them together and build some solar panels on the back off it all? Kinda like some mini solar powered moon base.

There are several companies that are planning MINING the old satellites for precious metals and technology recovery... SpaceDev is one

However the OTHER space program is not to happy about some of their tech 'falling into the wrong hands' I suppose if you have secret stuff up there... you would not want a 'rival' to get hold of it.

And if its big enough it might even make it to the ground and be salvaged... like those pieced in my previous posts...

So is a huge bus sized secret military satellite falls on enemy turf... this would be BAD

So the solution? SHOOT EM DOWN

US NAVY Shoots down Disabled Spy Satellite

Government secretly assembled group to study unprecedented mission
By Robert Burns
Associated Press
updated 3:07 p.m. PT, Fri., Feb. 15, 2008

WASHINGTON - Long before the public learned in late January that a damaged U.S. spy satellite carrying toxic fuel was going to crash to Earth, the government secretly assembled a high-powered team of officials and scientists to study the feasibility of shooting it down with a missile.

The order to launch the crash program came Jan. 4, according to defense officials who described Friday how it came to fruition for a final go-ahead decision by President Bush this week. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition they not be identified because of the sensitivity of the work.

The initial order was twofold: Assess whether shooting down the satellite with a missile was even possible, and at the same time urgently piece together the technological tools it would take to succeed.

In a matter of weeks, three Navy warships — the USS Lake Erie, USS Decatur and USS Russell — were outfitted with modified Aegis anti-missile systems, the ships' crews were trained for an unprecedented mission, and three SM-3 missiles were pulled off an assembly line and given a new guidance system.

The decision to attempt a shootdown was disclosed by the Pentagon on Thursday. On Friday officials said it could happen next week, shortly after the space shuttle Atlantis returns from its current voyage at midweek. Officials want the Atlantis to be home to avoid the risk of being hit with satellite debris.

There are videos included...

High-powered Team Planned Satellite Strategy
www.thelivingmoon.com...

Space Junk hits Earth Often, not People
www.thelivingmoon.com...


Trust the NAVY... the OTHER Space Program

The power it outputs could be used to power satellites, space telescopes or other equipment they build on the junk moon.

Power from (and to) space is already a reality... The OTHER space program flew a tether one month after STS75 and fired lasers at it for two years to test "power from Earth to satellite" equipment..

They are also working on huge solar collectors in space that will beam down energy...

Welcome to YASA (Yet ANOTHER Space Agency)

Well okay they are REALLY the NSSO...

The National Security Space Office (NSSO) was created on 30 April 2004 by USecAF/DNRO memoranda merging the responsibilities and resources of the National Security Space Architect (NSSA), the National Security Space Integration Directorate (NSSI), and the Transformational Communications Office (TCO). The new NSSO was established to build on the functions and processes of the NSSA, the NSSI, and the TCO and to add new capabilities including National Security Space (NSS)-wide enterprise engineering and functional area integration.

I have stuff from them but will stick that in a new thread in a few minutes....

reply to post by zorgon


I'd like to hear more about this!

Power from (and to) space is already a reality... The OTHER space program flew a tether one month after STS75 and fired lasers at it for two years to test "power from Earth to satellite" equipment..

Seems the danger is over..

This time...

November 3rd, 2008
ISS Space Junk Re-Entered Without Incident, 550km South of Australia


Caption: My impression of the EAS beginning atmospheric re-entry (NASA images, edit by Ian O'Neill)

The Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS), the largest chunk of debris ever jettisoned from the International Space Station (ISS) had a fight with Earth's atmosphere, and lost. Reports by amateur astronomers on November 2nd suggested that the speeding EAS had probably re-entered, as its expected orbital pass was not observed. Now calculations by US Space Command suggest any surviving EAS debris dropped into the Indian Ocean Pacific Ocean, 550km south of Tasmania, where any sightings of the resulting fireball would be unlikely…

www.universetoday.com...

Just be glad you don't live in Russia

You never know what might drop in for dinner

Farmer Says Space Debris Killed Horses
14 March 2008 Federal Space Agency officials are likely in for an angry reception when they arrive in the Altai republic this weekend to investigate a farmer's claims that falling space debris caused the death of four of his horses.

Moscow Times


March 17th, 2008
Space Junk, Toxic Fuel Rains Down on Siberian Region

People from the normally quiet and picturesque republic of Altai, Siberia keep their eyes on the sky when a launch occurs from the nearby Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan. This region is regularly littered with debris and toxic fuel from space launches, as Altai lies along the flight path of rocket launches to space. Unlike rockets launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, which shed excess stages into the Atlantic Ocean, sections from rockets launched from Baikonur crash back on land, usually landing in the Altai region of the Kazakh steppe.

Universe Today



I LOVE this line from the Moscow Times...

According to the Moscow Times, the Russian Federal Space Agency and Altai authorities have designated a strip of land where rocket debris is supposed to fall. People who live in the zone are given at least 24 hours' notice of falling debris. Only those outside the zone are entitled to any compensation for damage caused by the launches.

Here is a photo essay of Russian Space Debris




[edit on 5-11-2008 by zorgon]

reply to post by zorgon


Great stuff, can only hope this stuff never crashes through my roof. Bud the the possibilities are more than likely . . . then on the other hand space junk in orbit has been increasing.

Originally posted by OuttaHere
You obviously haven't met ME. If anyone ever says to me, "Cheer up! The worst that can happen is x." -- Where x=the absolutely least likely, most horrible thing you could ever imagine. -- Then, almost immediately, that very thing is precisely what happens to me.

Maybe this will help.

Cheer Up! The worst thing that could happen to you is that you could be wrong about that.

Perhaps OT but I have to offer help where possible.