For the first time in human history, two satellites collided in orbit, the Russian Cosmos 2251 and the American Iridium 33. The accident occurred at about 805 kilometers above Siberia, and now specialists are tracking hundreds of fragments that are gradually leaving orbit. Why there were more Cosmos debris and why they spread farther than Iridium fragments, in the article.
The first-ever traffic accident in human history in orbit has occurred: the Russian satellite "Kosmos-2251" collided with the American Iridium 33.The spacecraft collided at an altitude of approximately 805 kilometers above Siberia on February 10 at 19:56 Moscow time. This is the first such collision; before this, spacecraft had only collided with space debris. The Iridium satellite, a commercial communications spacecraft, was launched in 1997. "Kosmos-2251" is a military spacecraft, launched in 1993; since 1995, this spacecraft has been removed from the orbital constellation.
However, the fragments will not reach the Earth's surface before March 12. The fragment assigned the index 1993-036PX will enter the Earth's atmosphere on March 12, the debris 1993-036KW on March 28, and 1993-036MC on March 30. Altogether, they are about a centimeter in size, will burn up in the atmosphere, and do not pose a threat to people on Earth.
As of March 7, 355 fragments of "Kosmos-2251" and 159 fragments of Iridium 33 have been entered into catalogs. The debris from "Kosmos" is not only more numerous, but has also spread much farther apart - it is located at altitudes from 198 to 1689 kilometers, while the Iridium fragments are between 582 and 1262 kilometers.
Perhaps this is because "Kosmos" was sealed; upon impact, depressurization occurred, and the debris was scattered much farther by the pressure.