A photo from open sources PHOTO: Chris Hadfield Commander ISS crew photographed in a “bullet” solar panel hole “, the origin of which experts argue. In one of International Space Station (ISS) Solar Panels hole found. “Bullet hole” as the hole was called astronauts, supposedly formed due to a debris space debris or a small meteorite. Object of this size could easily break through the station building. I took a photo Canadian astronaut Chris Hatfield, heading the 35th long-term ISS expedition. 53 year old Canadian Air Force Colonel is not only an experienced specialist, but also a blogger who publishes daily Photos on your Google+ account taken on board the ISS. “The bullet hole is a small stone from the depths of the universe, pierced our solar panel, Hatfold said in the comments to the photo. – Fortunately, he did not get into the corps. “However, most discussion participants tend to think that the culprit of the incident was a piece of space debris. To version the terrestrial origin of the object that pierced the solar battery, experts are inclined. “I doubt the meteoroid has done this hole, much more likely that it was space debris – in low Earth orbit, much more space garbage than meteor particles, “said James Scotty (James Scotti) from the University of the Moon and Planet Research Laboratory Arizona.
A photo from open sources
The situation in near-Earth space is close to a critical point, scientists are sure. Unless urgent action is taken, space flights will become extremely dangerous over the next 200 years. Now on Near Earth orbits there are about 20 thousand controlled objects, two thirds of them are located on the so-called low orbits whose height is below 2 thousand kilometers. However scientists sure that in the near-earth space you can meet another 500 thousand particles 1 – 10 cm in size, and also, possibly, tens million smaller particles. All this garbage moves at speeds approximately 8 km / s, which makes it extremely dangerous. So, with at a speed of 10 km / s, particles with a size of 0.5 mm can penetrate a multilayer a spacesuit, and any shard pierces an aluminum sheet ten times thicker than its diameter.
Vadim ANUFRIEV
ISS
