The operational NASA TIMED satellite avoided a collision with the crippled Russian spacecraft “Cosmos 2221” in near-Earth space. The two objects missed each other at an altitude of 600 kilometers above Earth. Failed incident reported to authorities Web site NASA.
The Cosmos 2221 probe was launched in 1992 to support the operation of the Tselina-D electronic intelligence network and has now failed. Its mass is two tons.
The TIMED instrument (its name stands for “Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere, Energy, and Dynamics”) joins the NASA mission of the same name to study the impact of the Sun and human activity on Earth’s ionosphere. This region serves as the transition point where solar energy first enters the earth’s environment.
NASA stated that in the event of a collision, both spacecraft would explode into a large high-speed debris cloud that could cause a cascade of catastrophic crashes in orbit.
The space agency explained that neither device has maneuverability, so a potentially dangerous situation cannot be prevented in advance.
Previously, the European satellite was the size of a passenger bus fallen To the Pacific Ocean.
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Source: Gazeta
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