What happens if a space telescope weighing more than a ton collides with a 10-pound experimental satellite about 600 miles above Pittsburgh?
“You probably wouldn’t see anything here at all,” National Weather Service meteorologist Lee Hendricks said.
The gloomy, overcast cloud cover is expected to continue through 6:39 p.m. Wednesday, when the two orbiting objects are expected to pass between 50 and 100 feet of each other, according to LeoLabs, a California tech firm that monitors satellite and spacecraft in orbit to prevent collisions.
1/ We are monitoring a close approach event involving IRAS (13777), the decommissioned space telescope launched in 1983, and GGSE-4 (2828), an experimental US payload launched in 1967.
(IRAS image credit: NASA) pic.twitter.com/13RtuaOAHb
— LeoLabs, Inc. (@LeoLabs_Space) January 27, 2020
The space telescope was launched in 1983 and has since been decommissioned. It weighs 2,387 pounds, more than a ton. The telescope is expected to pass between 50 and 100 feet of an experimental satellite that’s been in orbit since 1967.
They’re expected to pass by each other traveling at more than 32,000 mph about 559 miles directly above the Pittsburgh area, according to LeoLabs, and there’s a one-in-100 chance they will collide.
“Events like this highlight the need for responsible, timely deorbiting of satellites for space sustainability moving forward,” Leo Labs tweeted.
