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According to LeoLabs, who monitor the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment, two satellites can potentially collide on January 29, at 23:39:35 UTC. The two satellites in question are the retired NASA Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) and a 1960's-era gravity gradient stabilization satellite GGSE-4. According to the LeoLabs data, the two satellites are predicted to come within 15 to 30 meters of each other, well within the margin of error for these kind of calculations. LeoLabs predicted a 1/100 chance of a collision. None of the collision by-products, should a collision occur, would survive reentry to the ground, but it would add to the existing mess of orbital debris and it portends a potential future where although space is vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big, it is getting crowded faster than ever before.
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From the article:
[...] the two spacecraft will pass within just 15 to 30 metres (50 to 100 feet) of each other at an altitude of around 900 kilometres or 560 miles. And because both are dead as doornails, there's no way Earth can communicate with them to conduct evasive manoeuvres.
"Spacecraft have taken evasive manoeuvres to avoid things that are only within 60 kilometres. So this is a really, really close encounter. And if this does actually come to pass, there's potentially a large amount of debris that will be created.
The NASA/NIVR IRAS satellite and the NRO/USN POPPY 5B satellite (aka GGSE 4) are predicted to make a close approach on Wednesday. POPPY 5B has 18-metre-long gravity gradient booms so a 15-to-30 metre predicted miss distance is alarming https://t.co/H1UckcoaAH
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) January 27, 2020
And they're going fast. Their relative velocity is 14.7 kilometres per second (9.1 miles per second).
(Score: 2) by deimtee on Thursday January 30 2020, @02:58AM
I do. It was sold as a Space Truck. 25 tons to a space station in LEO, swap raw materials/supplies for space products*, land, few days to check it over and refuel, and do it again. Being able to land a significant payload was part of it. Refueling in space for much higher/further missions was touted as a future plan. Retrieving satellites for refuel/repair was definitely touted as a possible mission.
*Space products were going to be silicon chips, crystals, ball bearings, pharmaceuticals, and exotic alloys that would only mix in zero gee .
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.