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Old 02-14-2009, 07:27 AM   #2
glatt
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 27,717
Today's paper had a lot more information.

The cloud of debris from this collision is actually two clouds, each roughly following the previous orbit of each satellite, because it was a glancing impact. Military radar picked up roughly 700 pieces of debris larger than 4 inches, but experts estimate that there are millions of smaller pieces not seen by the radar.

They expect that the debris field will continue to spread, and some of the debris will get as high as 1000 or 1500 miles of altitude.

The most amazing thing I saw in the article was this quote.
Quote:
Johnson said that four or five satellites a day pass within 300 yards of debris or some other satellite.
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