Wednesday, August 27, 2014

It's a jangle up there

In the crowded skies, watch out;
There are nearly 2,000 commercial and government satellites orbiting the Earth.
However, they face up to 200 threats a day from debris as small as a fingernail given they are travelling at speeds of about 17,500 miles an hour.
It is estimated that there are 300,000 pieces of space junk ranging from one-centimetre to the size of bowling balls, and that on average one satellite is destroyed each year.
The Australians saw a need, and are filling it;
US defence giant Lockheed Martin has struck a deal with an Australian technology firm to track space debris that can damage satellites.
It has signed a "strategic co-operation agreement" with Canberra-based Electro Optic Systems (EOS) to build a new tracking station in Western Australia.
The site will employ advanced optical and laser technology to detect, track and identify specific space objects.
Which is cost effective;
EOS chief executive Dr Ben Greene says that they have invested 80m Australian dollars ($74,6m; £45m) into developing their light-based technology systems, which have become cheaper than the use of radar.

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