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Delta Rocket Crashes In Mongolia
Dr La writes "Two metal objects, one cylindrical and a smaller round one, crashed near Buren Soum in the Tuv province of Mongolia, in an empty field, on 19 February. They are parts of an American Delta II rocket stage (nr. 35939, 2009-052C) that launched the military STSS Demo 1 & 2 satellites in September 2009. Both articles linked above say that the larger of the two objects is 7.5 meters in diameter, but in this photo it looks more like 7.5 feet. It is marked with the serial number '02728.' (The military STSS program is intended for space-based detection and tracking of missiles.) In the months leading up to the February 19 orbital decay over Mongolia, the fall of the rocket stage was followed by amateur satellite trackers. Based on their final orbit determinations just hours before the decay, the decay must have occurred near 3:32 UTC on February 19."
Sanford and Son in Mongolian?
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Not at a precise moment in time.
Probably occurred near 3:25, and 3:45 too, and probably yesterday, and the day before and the day before and pretty much the entire time between when the fuel stopped producing thrust and the time it hit the ground.
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It seems surprising that the tank isn't crushed, but other tanks have come down from space without being crushed flat.
According to a team comprising specialists from defense, emergency and astrology, who inspected the object, the two objects described by local people as meteoroids, were parts of U.S delivery rocket Delta-2.
I for one would take this with a pinch of salt. Especially if it comes from an astrologer, or from one who can't tell one from an astronomer.
You will be modded "interesting" or "insightful" simply because you are bandying around wild technical terms that make it sound like you know what you're talking about (to people who know nothing about rockets). Yet the truth is nothing you say is grounded in any kind of relationship to the real world. Except maybe blowing the thing into smaller parts. But tethers? What are you smoking?
It seems the UB post has been slashdotted.
The squashed thing hasn't disturbed the ground at all. I wouldn't expect a crater but a few displaced rocks would be expected. Thats what happened on Mars when the rover backshells impacted anyway. So maybe somebody dragged it to the site where the pictures were taken. It certainly looks like it came down with a hell of a thump.
Also the sphere beside the squashed thing looks like it would have either been previously inside or attached to the larger object, or it would have rolled and bounced away. The picture looks somewhat staged for that reason.
Definitely orbital or launcher debris though.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Here ya go. Basic EM physics. Drag a conductive wire through a magnetic field and the field induces a voltage potential in the conductor. Applying the right hand rule to the system results in the induced potential forming a magnetic field to oppose the one that created it and thus results in a drag force which acts on the conductor and ultimately causes the orbit to decay.
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
Deploying a tether isn't going to be easy because cables in microgravity tend to twist back into the shape they had on the spool. If you put a big weight on the end and push it away hard enough gravity will eventually pull the tether straight but overall it might be cheaper on the mass budget to use a solid rocket motor.
If guidance on a dead vehicle is an issue you could build a simple drag brake using a big Mylar balloon. Something like the echo satellites. You need just enough gas inside to inflate an envelope. And when the gas escapes the envelope will make a pretty good drag brake anyway.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
from that rocket makes its way into Chinese appliances that we buy at Wal-mart.
On February 19th Mongolia declared war on the US after a missile attack that left one yak dead and several others startled. On February 20th Mongolia surrendered to the US and demanded war reparations totaling 20 billion dollars as well as one yak and roughly 10 gallons of milk lost from the startled yaks.
That title is just a tiny bit sensationalist... I had images failed launch flashing through my mind. A final stage dropping to earth was a bit of a disappointment :-/
Plus with the tons of space debris we have floating out there would the odds of the tether being cut not be pretty high? Sorry I can't find the link ATM but the last picture showing the amount of space debris we are currently tracking was just insane, and that doesn't count all the bullet or smaller sized pieces that have broken off of sats over the years. So wouldn't any long cord hanging around near Earth most likely end up getting hit?
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
wouldn't any long cord hanging around near Earth most likely end up getting hit?
A tether was tested from the Shuttle and it did break at some point but I thought the problem was heating. If you want to try the magnetic field trick your tether will have to carry a lot of current and heating in vacuum can be a problem.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Wow, that was a near thing! Good thing this landing occurred in this empty field, otherwise it might have.... uhhhh.... fallen in the next empty field?
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In the months leading up to the February 19 orbital decay over Mongolia, the fall of the rocket stage was followed by amateur satellite trackers.
And what happens when one of these drops on Beijing? Or Vancouver? Or San Francisco? I thought the flight paths were calculated so the boosters dropped in the ocean?
I used to think where they came down was no accident. Now I'm wondering if they're just playing the odds.
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A little while ago, but still interesting I think.
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Space Junk (updated)
she was walking all alone
down the street in the alley
her name was Sally
she never saw it
when she was hit by space junk
in New York, Miami Beach
heavy metal fell in Cuba
Mongolia, Saudi Arabia
on christmas eve said NORAD
a Soviet Sputnik hit Africa
India, Venezuela
(in Texas, Kansas)
it's falling fast Peru too
it keeps coming
and now i'm mad about space junk
i'm all burned out about space junk
oooh walk & talk about space junk
it smashed my baby's head
and now my Sally's dead
So, why didn't it burn up? Not enough velocity? Not enough mass?
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
I just got it. Nice LUL!
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
Space debris is a problem, but not THAT big of a problem. I mean think of the vast size of the earth and the vast volume of area which satellites inhabit, and then think of how little we actually put up there. Those pictures you see make every piece of debris look like they are the size of Belgium.
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Preferably through land-based detection and tracking of rockets.
I got it! LULS
Damping absorbs vibrations. Dampening is caused by moisture.
What's up with the cannonball? So they just happened to carry a supply of these in the truck?