Delta Rocket Crashes In Mongolia 53
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."
How do you say... (Score:3, Funny)
Sanford and Son in Mongolian?
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Here ya go. [wikipedia.org] 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.
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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 env
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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.
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Decay happens over a period of time (Score:3, Interesting)
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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3:32 was the time that the object was predicted to be in the area of the field in which it crashed. Presumably the object wouldn't take too long to make its final
Not crushed - terminal velocity? (Score:4, Informative)
It seems surprising that the tank isn't crushed, but other tanks have come down from space [ecoble.com] without being crushed flat.
Sketchy evidence? (Score:3, Funny)
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.
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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.
It could be that they do know the difference, but their language doesn't discriminate between the two. Chinese astrology isn't anywhere near as much concerned with stars and planets as Western astrology is.
Could not connect to the database server (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
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I've been to Mongolia. In the steppes and desert areas the ground is sometimes a *very* hard surface. Also it is possible the objects bounced or rolled a few metres before coming to a stop. There's not quite enough resolution in the pictures to tell for certain, but the lower left corner of the upper photo (below where the guy is bending over to look at the debris) looks a bit like there is a shallow pit and some whitish, crushed rock. It's also February -- the ground is probably frozen. In this pictur [www.mk.ru]
I wonder how soon before the technology (Score:2, Funny)
from that rocket makes its way into Chinese appliances that we buy at Wal-mart.
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I could believe that an EPROM or two might make their way to China's own space programme. I recall that the USSR once aborted a Soyuz launch on Chinese territory and had to rush to recover the vehicle.
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How much do you think the Mongolians would demand for the tech transfer? You do know enough about geography to be aware they are two separate sovereign countries, right?
On the other hand, they might value the thing a little differently than one would a tech asset.
from the article:
According to a team comprising specialists from defense, emergency and astrology, who inspected the object....
Next US war (Score:5, Funny)
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.
Re:Next US war (Score:4, Funny)
Not money. For yaks offed, Smirnoff!
Re: Yakov Smirnoff! (Score:1)
Re: Yakov Smirnoff! (Score:1)
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On February 21st the United States refused to acknowledge the surrender of Mongolia, claiming that for too long yaks have been infringing on copyrights and patents owned by American cows on mooing and milk production respectively. It announced that yaks are the hallmark of rogue, terrorist nations such as Mongolia, demanded that Mongolia switch its bovines immediately to American cows which could be purchased at reasonable rates from America or it's European partners, and further demanded that Mongolia lice
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They could also bill US for littering.
Rocket Crashes? (Score:2, Informative)
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 :-/
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Heck what worried me was whether or not people were killed by the crash. Fortunately no one was hurt but it could have been tragic news. Most of the planet is reasonably uninhabited (ocean, desert, sparsely populated areas like siberia etc.) and so most of the time these objects won't fall into anywhere that you'd consider important like a city. Although wit hthe sheer quantity of garbage up there, I'm sure it is bound to happen at some point.
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Fortunately no one was hurt but it could have been tragic news. Most of the planet is reasonably uninhabited
I don't know about this Delta, but some of the rockets we send up are hydrazine powered. It can take a year for somebody to die from casual hydrazine hydrate contact.
I wonder if these rocket sections are appropriately marked with skulls and crossbones, or such markings could even be seen upon landing. Or even if any of the toxins we employ can survive re-entry.
If something fell out of space near me I
That Sure Was A Close One! (Score:1, Funny)
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?
Lucky it landed somewhere remote (Score:2, Insightful)
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Space Craft [feeddistiller.com] Feed @ Feed Distiller [feeddistiller.com]
What happens next time? (Score:2)
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.
Hits in Southern Africa as well... (Score:1)
Obligatory (Score:1)
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 b
Why didn't it burn up? (Score:1)
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I would assume "Not enough Velocity".
Track the rockets! (Score:1)
Just happened to have a cannonball handy? (Score:1)
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