On Monday, November 15, Russia, without informing others of their planned action, launched an anti-satellite weapon. This launch was designed to test their ability to take down satellites and it was tested on an old Soviet satellite, Cosmos 1408 (Pictured above). This test, however, did have serious consequences. After the destruction of the satellite, thousands of pieces of debris were scattered, some of which could cross paths with the International Space Station. Because of this, the astronauts aboard the station had to take precautionary measures in case they were struck by debris.
Since the destruction on Monday, it has been determined that the debris likely poses no concern for the ISS as it likely won’t pass within 40 km of it. While much of the immediate concern for the space station has been dispelled, adding additional debris to low earth orbit is never a good thing, especially when it could remain there for decades. This sort of action by the Russians is the sort of thing that we would have expected half a century ago in the heat of the cold war but not now by a modern nation with its own men onboard the ISS. If we are to preserve our ability to safely travel into low earth orbit, we must take this sort of blatant neglectful action seriously as it can have serious negative effects on space travel for generations.
No comments:
Post a Comment