(My Tongue is in My Cheek)
This Story deserves a mention in this blog because of what Iridium (33) really is (Ir Atomic# 77) and the original goal of the 7/7 London Bombings Blog. I sincerely apologize for some of the contradictions in this post, about this collision. It's all thanks to referring to multiple Media Reports, some of which don't know all of the real facts and/or don't choose the most reliable source(s).
Mark Matney, an orbital debris scientist at Johnson Space Center, Houston, said: 'We knew this was going to happen eventually.' 'The collisions are going to become more and more important in the coming decades.'
Russian Cosmos 2251 (NORAD ID 22675 – Weight 2,094lb or 1,984lb/900kg) communications relay satellite, launched in 1993 and presumed non-operational. It does not have a manoeuvring system according to NASA.
NASA is now monitoring a cloud of debris produced by the impact made up of more than 600 pieces. "This is the first time we've ever had two intact spacecraft accidentally run into each other," said Nicholas Johnson, chief scientist of NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "It was a bad day for both of them."
Outdated spacecraft, rocket stages and other components break apart in space every year, but there have only been three relatively minor collisions between such objects in the last 20 years.
Scientists are currently tracking 13,000 pieces of debris which are tennis ball-sized or bigger, in orbit around the Earth. In total there is some 12.1million lb of man-made rubbish whizzing around the planet.
NASA's orbital debris experts are also assessing the threat to other spacecraft. The agency's Earth Observing System satellites, which orbit at 438 miles (705 km), "are of highest interest for immediate consideration,"
The U.S. Space Surveillance Network continuously tracks more than 18,000 separate man-made objects and debris at any given time.
NASA spokesman John Yembrick said the International Space Station could do 'a debris-avoidance manoeuvre if necessary.' Most of the debris from the crash will eventually burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.
Space junk is now considered the biggest threat to a space shuttle.
Another communications satellite, ASTRA 5A owned by SES Luxemburg, also failed and was adrift in orbit. The loss forced its operators to warn the owners of neighboring satellites to be prepared for the remote possibility of having to maneuver their spacecraft to avoid a collision with Astra 5A.
NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office also released an update last month on Russia's Soviet-era satellite Cosmos 1818 stating that the spacecraft appeared to spew a cloud of debris on July 4 (Independence Day), 2008 that may be the result of leaking reactor coolant from a debris strike or fragmentation.
The United States used a missile from a Navy warship to explode a tank of toxic fuel on a crippled U.S. spy satellite in February 2008.
The company, based in Bethesda, Maryland, derives its name from the chemical element iridium. The number of satellites projected in the early stages of planning was 77, the atomic number of iridium, evoking the metaphor of 77 electrons orbiting the nucleus. Iridium communications service was launched on November 1, 1998.
The first Iridium call was made by then-Vice President of the United States Al Gore. Motorola provided the technology and major financial backing.
In a prepared statement, the Bethesda, Md.-based Iridium characterized the incident as a "very low probability event" and said it was taking immediate action to minimize any loss of service. Iridium, which operates a constellation of 66 low Earth orbiting satellites providing mobile voice and data communications globally, said its system remains healthy and that it would implement a "network solution" by Friday.
'Within the next 30 days, Iridium expects to move one of its in-orbit spare satellites into the network constellation to permanently replace the lost satellite,' a statement said.
U.S., Russia: A Mysterious Satellite Collision – 12 February 2009 - Stratfor Global Intelligence
Iridium Satellite (Wikipedia)
Iridium (Wikipedia)
Standard Periodic Table - Back To School Chemistry Buffs!






1994: Autonomous vision-based VaMP robot of Dickmanns and UniBW drives in Paris traffic, tracking up to 12 other cars simultaneously. The "VAmP" Mercedes 500 SEL drives more than 1000 km on the Paris multi-lane ring, up to 130 km/h, automatically passing slower cars in the left lane.