Satellite collides with Russian space junk
Source: AFP |
May 24, 2013, Friday
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A small Ecuadoran satellite collided in orbit with the remains of a Russian rocket, Quito's space agency said yesterday.
Ecuador's space agency EXA warned on Wednesday that a space fender-bender was likely between its "Pegaso" satellite and the remains of the Soviet rocket S14 launched into space nearly three decades ago.
The agency's director Ronnie Nader said in a Twitter message sent after the crash that US space officials had confirmed Pegaso had suffered only a glancing blow from the Russian space debris.
"It was not a direct hit," tweeted Nader, Ecuador's first and only astronaut. "Pegaso remains in orbit."
He added that despite the collision, which occurred at around 0538 GMT some 1,500 kilometers above the east coast of Madagascar, the satellite seemed to be holding its course.
But Nader said it was too early to say what the extent of the damage to the satellite is, adding that it would take another day or two to know for sure.
Pegaso, the first satellite designed and built in Ecuador, set off aboard an unmanned rocket on April 25 from the Jiuquan space station in northwest China.
Ecuador's space agency EXA warned on Wednesday that a space fender-bender was likely between its "Pegaso" satellite and the remains of the Soviet rocket S14 launched into space nearly three decades ago.
The agency's director Ronnie Nader said in a Twitter message sent after the crash that US space officials had confirmed Pegaso had suffered only a glancing blow from the Russian space debris.
"It was not a direct hit," tweeted Nader, Ecuador's first and only astronaut. "Pegaso remains in orbit."
He added that despite the collision, which occurred at around 0538 GMT some 1,500 kilometers above the east coast of Madagascar, the satellite seemed to be holding its course.
But Nader said it was too early to say what the extent of the damage to the satellite is, adding that it would take another day or two to know for sure.
Pegaso, the first satellite designed and built in Ecuador, set off aboard an unmanned rocket on April 25 from the Jiuquan space station in northwest China.
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