[FPSPACE] Five myths about the satellite smash-up -

[Mgr. Antonín Vítek, CSc.]

> Five myths about the satellite smash-up -
>
> Myth No. 5: The satellite disintegrated into more than 3,000 pieces
> because the fuel exploded.
>
>    Reality: Some Pentagon officials seemed to imply this, as evidence that
> they had achieved the goal of destroying the tank. But the kinetic
> energy involved in the ultra-high-speed collision was more than enough
> to impart enough force to cause the violent shattering - it certainly
> was orders of magnitude greater than the chemical energy that would
> have been liberated from the ignition of the entire fuel supply, even
> assuming it wasn't frozen. That collisional energy was also the reason
> that some pieces of the target satellite got thrown forward so
> energetically, even though the missile hit the satellite from the
> front.
>

Mr. Oberg is right. The kinetic energy imparted by collision of "warhead"
of this size without any explosives on board is equal approximately to the
yield of cca. 30 kg (55 lbs) TNT. Enough to destroy completely the
satellite into pieces.

On other hand:

One of the tracked debris (2006-057D) had apogeum height (for the first
released orbit on Feb. 26th) around 1800 km. Taking into account its decay
rate, the inital apogeum on the first orbit immediately after collision
should be around 2200 - 2300 km. This corresponds to the velocity change
of the order 440 to 450 m/s - compare this with the orbital velocity of
almost 8 km/s. The change is only mere 5 to 6 %.


Mgr. Antonin Vitek, CSc.

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