Gizmodo: A Satellite Exploded in Orbit and No One's Quite Sure Why Yet
How many satellites would you say are currently orbiting the Earth? A few hundred? Maybe a thousand? No: There are about 3,700 satellites hurtling through orbit above us—so when one of them "breaks up," it's a big deal.
This week, Space.com reported that a Department of Defense satellite exploded on February 3rd, creating a debris field of 43 objects. The satellite in question? The 13th in a 1990s-era project called the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, designed to give the Department of Defense weather data and atmospheric conditions in combat zones. For example, DMSP-13 relayed flight conditions for Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, says Space.com.
Previous Post: U.S. Military Satellite Explodes In Space
WNU Editor: The mystery deepens.
5 comments:
A spike in temperature like it was hit by a laser?
Ropestuff .... you are saying what everyone else is thinking.
In response to increased surveillance over the disputed islands, as a way of saying "watch out"?
Funny that a story like this is left to the public to speculate. I have a hard time believing that the Air Force doesn't know what happened.
They are probably not sure .... after-all it took them some time to realize there was a problem to begin with. But I will not be surprised if there is a team right now examining what went wrong.
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