Rocket stage fell apart after 10 years of flight around the Earth

The spent stage of the rocket, traveling in an orbit around the Earth since 2009, recently fell apart. Observatory in Spain recorded footage with the new cloud of space debris against the backdrop of numerous stars.

Deimos complex astronomical Sky Survey (DeSS) in Madrid, designed to detect and assess the risk from near-earth objects, recorded the appearance of space debris in the sky from March 26 to 28.

According to employees, the debris on the record appear as a fixed point, and the stars similar to the light bar. It is reported that the cloud of debris contains from 40 to 60 fragments, many of which are more than 30 cm in diameter.

Russian astronomers have discovered the wreckage and reported it to his European counterparts on 26 March at the meeting of the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), said DeSS. Experts have determined that the cloud of space debris was once a Centaur Atlas V rocket, launched on 9 September 2009 for delivery into orbit communications satellites of the United States.

After separation the upper stage of the launch cylinder length of about 12.5 meters long and weighing about 2 tons — came out on a stable orbit where it could remain for centuries, but collapsed somewhere between 23 and 25 March. The cause of its destruction is unknown.

Although space debris is of interest to researchers, it also poses a serious threat to people in space for missions in low earth orbit. A recent audit of the ESA Columbus module on the ISS identified hundreds of collision with space debris. And after 1 April, India tested an anti-satellite rocket, NASA has discovered 400 new orbiting debris, 60 of which had a diameter exceeding 10 cm.

"For us it is unacceptable to allow people to create a space junk field, which jeopardize the safety of the astronauts. This activity is incompatible with human flight in space," said NASA administrator Jim Breidenstein.

Space agencies are thinking how to solve the problem. Among the options for orbital cleaning capture and movement of debris into the atmosphere where it will burn, and blasting him with lasers. But until these ideas are implemented only at the level of computer simulations.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»