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- WASHINGTON - The $7 billion
dollar
constellation of Iridium satellites is about to suffer a loss in
its
family of 72 orbiting satellites. Orbital debris experts have their
eye on Iridium satellite number 79. It should tumble out of Earth orbit
and reenter the atmosphere tomorrow, Wednesday. That reentry will be
followed
about a month later, in mid-December, by another Iridium,
number 85. Down
time
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- The two Iridium spacecraft are derelict satellites, both
non-operational, said Nicholas Johnson, chief scientist and program
manager
for NASA's orbital debris office at the Johnson Space Center in
Houston,
Texas.
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- Tomorrows expected fall from grace of the first Iridium
should produce debris that will reach the Earth's surface. "This is
an uncontrollable satellite. It died a long time ago," Johnson told
SPACE.com.
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- "Some pieces are likely to survive. There are about
a
dozen or so that died early. A lot of those are at higher altitudes.
It
could be well over a year before another one comes in," Johnson
said.
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- Duck and Cover?
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- William Ailor, head of The
Aerospace Corporation's Center
for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies
in El Segundo, California, said
the Iridium spacecraft are random
reentries. "No one will have a good
idea of where or exactly when
they,ll come down," he said.
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- Ailor said that Iridium 79 is
predicted to decay on November
29, within plus or minus 5 hours.
Iridium 85 is due for a December 17 reentry,
plus or minus 5 days or
so, he said.
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- As for any public "duck and cover" worries,
don't get
your hard hats out.
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- NASA's Johnson said that satellites and upper stages
come in all the time.
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- A study of the Iridium satellite reentries, Johnson
said,
show they are within a NASA and U.S. government standard of
acceptable
risk. That is, there is a one in 10,000 chance of anybody
being hurt on
the ground by a falling Iridium spacecraft, he
said.
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- Iridium Bankruptcy
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- Two weeks ago, the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court for the Southern
District of New York approved a $25
million bid of Iridium Satellite LLC
to purchase the operating assets
of Iridium LLC and its subsidiaries.
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- Chairman of Iridium Satellite
is Dan Colussy, a veteran
of the aviation industry. Iridium Satellite
LLC has contracted with the
Boeing Company to operate and maintain the
satellite constellation.
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- Motorola, builder and initial operator of the
multi-billion
constellation of Iridium satellites, has agreed to
continue to provide
subscriber equipment on "commercially
acceptable terms," according
to a press statement issued by
Colussy's company November 15.
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- Lessons Learned
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- The Iridium story is
one of good news and bad, said Carissa
Bryce Christensen, space
industry consultant, currently working with Futron
Corporation in
Bethesda, Maryland.
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- "Iridium achieved some remarkable things. It's easy
to forget that in light of what's going on now," Christensen
said.
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- The
aerospace consultant said that the raising of billions
of dollars, the
technical know-how in building and operating the Iridium
constellation,
was extraordinary.
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- "What they didn't do was to focus on, analyze and
pay
attention to the market they could serve," Christensen said.
"Iridium
had a series of major accomplishments along with some
extraordinary failures.
Why they failed is baffling," she
said.
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