PopJumbers

Millions of new pieces of junk may have generated during Chinese test of an anti satellite weapon.the debris could be dangerous fog existing satellites and even for astronauts aboard the international space station and the spaceshuttle for the years to come.





On 11 jan 2007 china launched a missile from or near the Xiachang Space center in the southwestern province of Sichuan. This likely released a projectile that slammed into one of its derlict polar orbiting weather satellites,know as Fend Yun IC,which flew at an altitude of about 800kms.the collision created about 40,000 pieces of debris largeq than 1cm. It may also have created 2million fragments wider than 1mm across.such altitudes are heavily trafficked by imaging,meteorological,surveillance,remote sensing and comnunication satellites.these could be seriously damaged if they were hit by the debris which can travel at 7.5 km/sec which is 30times faster than a jet aircraft.