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Showing posts with label satellite breakup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label satellite breakup. Show all posts

Feb 21, 2007

Debris Cloud over Australia

Space Weather News for Feb. 21, 2007
from SpaceWeather.com:

On February 19th, late-night sky watchers across Australia witnessed a bright explosion followed by a debris cloud that hung in the sky for nearly an hour. At first a mystery, the source of the blast is now understood. It was a Russian Briz-M rocket booster misplaced in orbit last year by the failed launch of an Arabsat communications satellite. The fuel tanks of the Briz-M ruptured on Feb. 19th, producing a vivid naked-eye display and more than 1000 pieces of debris. Experts are calling this a "major breakup event," comparable to or even worse than last month's Chinese anti-sat test.

Visit SpaceWeather.com for more information and pictures of the Briz-M breakup.