More SATELLITE DEBRIS FALLING...Now in Texas...

[wgadget]

Debris falling in Texas, possibly from satellites
From Associated Press
February 15, 2009 5:30 PM EST

DALLAS - The Federal Aviation Administration has received numerous reports of falling debris across Texas, which could be related to a recent satellite collision.

Some of the callers around midmorning Sunday reported what looked like a fireball in the sky.

FAA spokesman Roland Herwig said officials suspect the debris could be related to the collision, but he said that had not been confirmed.

The FAA notified pilots on Saturday to be aware of possible debris after a collision Tuesday between U.S. and Russian communication satellites. The chief of Russia's Mission Control says clouds of debris from the collision will circle Earth and threaten numerous satellites.

[torchbearer]

I posted an interesting visual of orbital satelites here: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=179653

[wgadget]

Did you hear about thousands of Chinese being frightened that there may have been an earthquake? I'm wondering if that wasn't debris, also? The Chinese officials are claiming it was a military exercise. LOL

[torchbearer]

I didn't hear about that... I just know this is a serious clusterfuck.
We need to get old satelites out of orbit.
And any new satelite needs to have a mechanism that will put it into a correct burn tragectory at the end of its service life.

[wgadget]

I didn't hear about that... I just know this is a serious clusterfuck.
We need to get old satelites out of orbit.
And any new satelite needs to have a mechanism that will put it into a correct burn tragectory at the end of its service life.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20090214/D96BBSU80.html

[torchbearer]

Makes sense that it would be bombs.
The fragments of the two satelites are more of a threat for the space station than to people on the ground.

[wgadget]

What about airplane flights?

[torchbearer]

What about airplane flights?

Only extreme high altitude flights.
And then, the odds of being hit are still slim.

The main chunks were the only real ground threat, and for them to hit anyone on the ground would be like winning the lottery.
The smaller, more numerous pieces are an extreme danger to humans in space... but no threat to anyone on the ground or close to sea level.

[wgadget]

That's good to know. Thanks!

:)

[pcosmar]

The FAA notified pilots on Saturday to be aware of possible debris

That would be funny if it wasn't just stupid. A pilot could do what about it?

There are reports of sonic booms and pieces of debris being found. that means some larger pieces are getting through. And reaching the ground.
I would call that reason for concern .
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/Satellite_Debris_Falls_from_T

Satellite Debris Falls
from Texas Sky

Created On: Sunday, 15 Feb 2009, 1:12 PM CST

DALLAS - Police scanner traffic in Texas was abuzz Sunday morning with reports of fireballs or burning debris in the sky.

Residents in Hill and Navarro counties also reported hearing an explosion or feeling their house shake.

The Federal Aviation Administration's spokesman Roland Herwig attributed the reports to falling debris from a recent satellite collision.

According to the Associated Press, a derelict Russian spacecraft designed for military communications and a working satellite owned by U.S.-based Iridium, which served commercial customers as well as the U.S. Department of Defense, collided over Siberia on Tuesday.

Herwig said airmen were warned that crash debris might fall this weekend.

He said he started receiving calls at about 11 a.m. Sunday from law enforcement agencies across the state. The agencies were fielding questions from people who had either witness or found fallen debris.

“We don’t know what has fallen yet. We’ll find out in a day or so what we are looking at,” he said.

He encouraged residents to call police and use caution around any debris that they may find on their property.

Earlier this week the chief of Russia's Mission Control said clouds of debris from the collision will circle Earth for thousands of years and threaten numerous satellites, the Associated Press reported.

[ItsTime]

That would be funny if it wasn't just stupid. A pilot could do what about it?

There are reports of sonic booms and pieces of debris being found. that means some larger pieces are getting through. And reaching the ground.
I would call that reason for concern .

dodge them with their psychic abilities DUH!

[HOLLYWOOD]

USSTRATCOM Space Control and Space Surveillance Fact Sheet


USSTRATCOM’s space control mission includes: surveillance of space, protection of US and friendly space systems, prevention of an adversary’s ability to use space systems and services for purposes hostile to US national security interests, and direct support to battle management, command, control, communications, and intelligence. The space control mission is conducted by USSTRATCOM’s Joint Functional Component Command for Space (JFCC-SPACE).
JFCC-SPACE through its Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC), detects, tracks, and identifies all man-made objects in Earth orbit. Crews work around the clock constantly tracking these objects. They task the Space Surveillance Network (SSN), a worldwide network of 29 space surveillance sensors (radar and optical telescopes, both military and civilian) to observe the objects. The crews use computers to match sensor observations to the more than 17,000 man-made orbiting objects and update the position of each one. These updates form the Space Catalog, a comprehensive listing of the numbers, types, and orbits of man-made objects in space.
Space surveillance involves detecting, tracking, cataloging and identifying man-made objects orbiting Earth, which include active/inactive satellites, spent rocket bodies, debris, and fragments. Space surveillance accomplishes the following:
· Analyze new space launches and evaluate orbital insertion
· Detect new man-made objects in space
· Chart present position of space objects and plot their anticipated orbital paths
· Produce and maintain current orbital data of man-made space objects in a space catalog
· Inform NASA and other government entities if objects may interfere with the orbits of the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station, and operational satellite platforms
· Predict when and where a decaying space object will re-enter the Earth's atmosphere
· Prevent a returning space object, which to radar looks like a missile, from triggering a false alarm in missile-attack warning sensors of the U.S. and other countries
· Determine which country owns a re-entering space object
· Predict surface impacts of re-entering objects and notify the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Public Safety Canada if an object may make landfall in North America or Hawaii
SSN Sensors
The SSN uses a "predictive" technique to monitor space objects, i.e., it spot checks them rather than tracking them continually. This technique is used because of the limits of the SSN (number of sensors, geographic distribution, capability, and availability). Below is a brief description of each type of sensor.
Phased-array radars can maintain tracks on multiple satellites simultaneously and scan large areas of space in a fraction of a second. These radars have no moving mechanical parts to limit the speed of the radar scan - the radar energy is steered electronically. A detection antenna transmits radar energy into space in the shape of a large fan. When a satellite intersects the fan, energy is reflected back to the detection antenna, where the location of the satellite is computed. Two examples of these radars include Cavalier AFS in North Dakota and Eglin AFB in Florida.
Conventional radars use moveable tracking antennas or fixed detection and tracking antennas. A tracking antenna steers a narrow beam of energy toward a satellite and uses the returned energy to compute the location of the satellite and to follow the satellite's motion to collect more data. These include radars include the Altair complex at the Reagan Test Site in the Kwajalein Atoll and the Haystack Millstone facility at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Electro-Optical Sensors consist of telescopes linked to video cameras and computers. The video cameras feed their space pictures into a nearby computer that drives a display scope. The image is transposed into electrical impulses and recorded on magnetic tape. This is the same process used by video cameras. Thus, the image can be recorded and analyzed in real-time.
Midcourse Space Experiment (MSX) satellite is a low-earth orbiting satellite system with a payload containing a variety of sensors, from UV to very-long-wave IR. Originally a platform for Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (now known as the Missile Defense Agency), the MSX was moved to the SSN in 1998.
Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance sites assigned to Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) play a vital role in tracking deep space objects. Between 2,000 and 2,500 objects, including geostationary communications satellites, are in deep space orbits more than 22,500 miles from Earth.
The SSN sensors are categorized as dedicated (those with the primary mission of performing space surveillance) or contributing and collateral sensors (those with a primary mission other than space surveillance). Combined, these types of sensors take between 300,000 to 400,000 observations each day.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/%5BIMG%5Dhttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mzcmdr/Space_Surviellance.jpg%5B/IMG%5D

Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC)
The JSpOC’s Space Situational Awareness (SSA) Operations Cell maintains a current computerized catalog of all orbiting man-made objects, charts preset positions, plots future orbital paths, and forecasts times and general location for significant man-made objects reentering the Earth’s atmosphere.
Since the launch of Sputnik in 1957, over 31,102 man-made objects have been catalogued, many of which have since re-entered the atmosphere. Currently, the JSpOC tracks more than 17,000 man-made objects orbiting Earth that are 10 centimeters or larger. About ten percent of those being tracked are functioning payloads or satellites, 15 percent are rocket bodies, and about 75 percent are fragmentation and inactive satellites.
The JSpOC protection mission consists of conducting laser clearing procedures, analyzing intentional threat, and collision avoidance. The JSpOC compiles information on hostile events that could directly or indirectly threaten U.S. or allied space assets. This information is analyzed to determine potential impacts on assets so that timely warnings and recommendations for suitable countermeasures can be made.
On a routine basis, JSpOC conducts collision avoidance analysis for the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS). During shuttle missions, the center computes possible close approaches of other orbiting objects with the shuttle's flight path. The JSpOC constructs a theoretical box around a high interest object, e.g. the Space Shuttle and projects the flight path several days in advance. If any of the catalogued objects intersects this theoretical box, the JSpOC forwards the analysis to the NASA. NASA makes the determination whether or not to change the flight path of the shuttle. NASA offers to the general public on its website, the opportunity to track various satellites. Click here to go to NASA's J-Track.
The Air Force Space Command’s 20th Space Control Squadron/Detachment 1 (20 SPCS/Det 1) provides the site and personnel to provide a geographically separate backup to the JSpOC’s SSA Operations cell. The 20 SPCS/Det 1 would take over all operations in the event the space control mission at the JSpOC could not function. This capability is exercised frequently.
Re-entry Assessment and Space Surveillance
Re-entry Assessment describes the operational procedures by which USSTRATCOM predicts the time and location of atmospheric reentry and potential ground impact) of decaying man-made objects in space. Current capabilities limit the ability to predict within a 30-minute, 6,000-mile window when and where a particular object should re-enter the Earth's upper atmosphere and outline a potential surface impact area.
Objects are tracked throughout their orbit life, with the results posted in the Space Catalog. When an object appears to be re-entering within seven days, orbital analysts in the JSpOC will increase sensor tasking (monitoring) and begin to project a refined re-entry time and location. At the four-day point, a monitor run is accomplished three times a day. Messages indicating the calculated re-entry time and location are transmitted to forward users and customers at the four-, three-, two- and one-day points. Starting at the 24-hour point, the object is monitored at the highest level of scrutiny, with processing at the 12, six and two-hour points. Again, ground traces and messages are transmitted. The object is monitored throughout re-entry.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mzcmdr/Space_Surviellance.jpg
The graphic above depicts the reentry of a typical satellite in a low Earth orbit. Figures may change depending on the orbital characteristics of space vehicles.

Re-entry Assessment is an "inexact science." It is virtually impossible to precisely predict where and when space debris will impact due to limitations in the tracking system as well as environmental factors that can influence debris. Most of USSTRATCOM's space tracking radars are located in the Northern Hemisphere, making continuous orbit coverage impossible. Consequently, a returning satellite could be outside sensor coverage for several hours.
Also, environmental factors acting on an object's orbit could include variations in the gravitational field of the landmass and ocean areas, solar radiation pressure, and atmospheric drag. Objects re-entering may skip off the Earth's atmosphere, much as a stone skipped across a pond, causing it to impact much further away than originally forecast.

USSTRATCOM will verify that an object has re-entered by using a process of "No Show" sensor reports verifying the object is no longer in orbit. Once it is determined not to be in orbit, sensor tasking ends and the object is deleted from the "Active "tracking mission of the surveillance network.
The chances of someone being struck by a re-entering object are slight. The great majority of objects that re-enter disintegrate due to the intense heat created by re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. Only a small percentage of objects ever re-enter over land since water comprises 75 percent of the Earth's surface. Additionally, only about 25 percent of the Earth's landmass is actually inhabited. If the object is forecast to make landfall in North America or Hawaii, the JSpOC will notify the Federal Emergency Management Agency and/or Public Safety Canada.
Since tracking began with Sputnik, more than 20,176 man-made objects the Department of Defense tracked have re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. There are more than 15,000 man-made objects currently orbiting the Earth. The Department of Defense has tracked approximately 35,176 objects in its space catalog.
USSTRATCOM maintains historical orbital data on objects even after they have re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. Unless an object is actually found and returned to NASA or any other agency, USSTRATCOM would have no knowledge of objects that have survived re-entry.
Current as of 19 Feb 2008

[Matt Collins]

There are two great articles and some very enlightening comments on the subject here:

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/11/2318226
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/15/2241211

[torchbearer]

There are two great articles and some very enlightening comments on the subject here:

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/11/2318226
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/15/2241211

thanks

[Matt Collins]

thanksYeah I love SlashDot

[Zippyjuan]

They are now saying that the flash seen in Texas was a meteor.

[Bruno]

They are now saying that the flash seen in Texas was a meteor.

Official response:

"It's definately not from the satellites"
"It's probably from the satellites"
"It was a meteor"

They do it to themselves. Stfu and wait until you know more before you make a statement then contradict yourself. It just gives UFO believers like me more fuel for the fire. ;)

[TonySutton]

It just gives UFO believers like me more fuel for the fire. ;)

You don't believe in UFOs? The object that fell in TX is apparently a UFO, they still do not know what it is. :D

[Bruno]

You don't believe in UFOs? The object that fell in TX is apparently a UFO, they still do not know what it is. :D

How true. And yes, I do believe in UFOs (I said like me) and videotaped one in AZ back in 1996. :) I believe the UFOs in many cases are visitors from other planets, not just meteors, satellites, shooting stars, "secret military craft", etc.