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16 Sep 2011 16:53

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Tech: NASA: Dead satellite could break apart, fall to Earth in giant chunks

  • six the weight of the dead satellite, in tons — which is pretty heavy
  • 26 the number of pieces the satellite could break into, according to NASA
  • 350 the possible weight of one of the chunks, in pounds source
  • » Better odds than the lottery: What are the odds a person might get hit by a piece of space junk, according to NASA? One in 3,200. To put this in perspective, the odds that a person playing the lottery might win are 1 in 175,000,000. The big difference of course? You want to win the lottery. You don’t want a giant piece of broken satellite turning you into a postmodern Chicken Little. NASA says it’ll have more info next week. (src ProducerMatthew)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Jun 2009 14:54

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Offbeat: A meteorite hit some German kid at 30,000 mph. Good for him.

  • He survived, but he has a radical 3-inch scar on his hand. 14-year-old Gerrit Blank, who kinda looks like Carrot Top, had a rare meteorite attack happen to him. “At first I just saw a large ball of light,” Blank explained, “and then I suddenly felt a pain in my hand.” The pea-sized piece of space junk left a bite much bigger than its visual bark, leaving a foot-wide hole in the ground and Blank with a crazy hand injury. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 May 2009 09:20

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Tech, U.S.: The Hubble rescue mission continues for Shuttle Atlantis

  • The goal Astronauts from Shuttle Atlantis are up in space attempting to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, a 19-year-old beast of technology which needs new batteries and gyroscopes, a new camera and pointing mechanism, and a 300,000-mile oil inspection.
  • The perils Well, beyond the fact that they’ll be chilling outside attempting to fix a broken telescope via spacewalk, there’s lots of space junk in that part of the orbit, and if a piece hits the shuttle, NASA might need to send a rescue mission. Scary. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Feb 2009 15:27

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Tech, World: There’s a lot of junk in space right now

Two satellites crashed together, made a big mess and inspired this awesome illustration. source
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