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Zombie Satellite
A zombie satellite is a satellite that begins communicating again after an extended period of inactivity. It is a type of space debris, which describes all defunct human-made objects in outer space. At the end of their service life, the majority of satellites suffer from orbital decay and are destroyed by the heat of atmospheric entry. Zombie satellites, however, maintain a stable orbit but are either partially or completely inoperable, preventing operators from communicating with them consistently. History Transit 5B-5 One of the oldest known zombie satellites is Transit 5B-5. It was launched in 1965 as part of the Transit system, one of the first satellite navigation systems. Transit 5B-5 is solar powered and still in a stable polar orbit, though operators are unable to control it. LES-1 LES-1, also known as Lincoln Experimental Satellite 1, was a communications satellite launched by the United States Air Force on February 11, 1965, to study the use of Super High Frequency ...
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Satellite
A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scientific research, and Earth observation. Additional military uses are reconnaissance, early warning, signals intelligence and, potentially, weapon delivery. Other satellites include the final rocket stages that place satellites in orbit and formerly useful satellites that later become defunct. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs). Most satellites also have a method of communication to ground stations, called transponders. Many satellites use a standardized bus to save cost and work, the most popular of which are small CubeSats. Similar satellites can work together as groups, forming constellatio ...
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Telecommunications Satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. Communications satellites are used for television, telephone, radio, internet, and military applications. Many communications satellites are in geostationary orbit above the equator, so that the satellite appears stationary at the same point in the sky; therefore the satellite dish antennas of ground stations can be aimed permanently at that spot and do not have to move to track the satellite. Others form satellite constellations in low Earth orbit, where antennas on the ground have to follow the position of the satellites and switch between satellites frequently. The radio waves used for telecommunications links travel by line of sight and so are obstructed by the curve of the Earth. The purpose of communications satellites is to r ...
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Kessler Syndrome
The Kessler syndrome, also known as the Kessler effect, collisional cascading, or ablation cascade, is a scenario proposed by NASA scientists Donald J. Kessler and Burton G. Cour-Palais in 1978. It describes a situation in which the density of objects in low Earth orbit (LEO) becomes so high due to space pollution that collisions between these objects cascade, exponentially increasing the amount of space debris over time. This proliferation of debris poses significant risks to satellites, space missions, and the International Space Station, potentially rendering certain orbital regions unusable and threatening the sustainability of space activities for many generations. In 2009, Kessler wrote that modeling results indicated the debris environment had already become unstable, meaning that efforts to achieve a growth-free small debris environment by eliminating past debris sources would likely fail because fragments from future collisions would accumulate faster than atmospheric d ...
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Laser Broom
A laser broom is a proposed ground-based laser beam-powered propulsion system that sweeps space debris out of the path of artificial satellites (such as the International Space Station) to prevent collateral damage to space equipment. It heats up one side of the debris to shift its orbit trajectory, altering the path to hit the atmosphere sooner. Space researchers have proposed that a laser broom may help mitigate Kessler syndrome, a runaway cascade of collision events between orbiting objects. Additionally, laser broom systems mounted on satellites or space station have also been proposed. Mechanism Laser brooms are proposed to target space debris between in diameter. Collisions with these high-velocity debris not only cause considerable damage to the satellites but secondary fragmented debris from the collided satellite parts. A laser broom is intended to be used at a high power to penetrate through the atmosphere and ablate material from the targeted debris. The ablating ...
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List Of Spaceflight-related Accidents And Incidents
This article lists verifiable spaceflight-related accidents and incidents resulting in human death or serious injury. These include incidents during flight or training for crewed space missions and testing, assembly, preparation, or flight of crewed and robotic spacecraft. Not included are accidents or incidents associated with intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests, death or injury to test animals, uncrewed space flights, rocket-powered aircraft projects of World War II, or conspiracy theories about alleged unreported Soviet space accidents. , 19 people have died during spaceflights that crossed, or were intended to cross, the boundary of space as defined by the United States (50 miles above sea level). Astronauts have also died while training for space missions, such as the Apollo 1 launch pad fire that killed an entire crew of three. There have also been some non-astronaut deaths during spaceflight-related activities. As of 2025, more than 188 people have died in ...
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Space Liability Convention
The Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, also known as the Space Liability Convention, is a treaty from 1972 that expands on the liability rules created in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. In 1978, the crash of the nuclear-powered Soviet satellite Kosmos 954 in Canadian territory led to the only claim filed under the convention. Status The Liability Convention was concluded and opened for signature on 29 March 1972. It entered into force on 1 September 1972. As of 1 January 2021, 98 States have ratified the Liability Convention, 19 have signed but not ratified and four international intergovernmental organizations (the European Space Agency, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, the Intersputnik International Organization of Space Communications, and the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization) have declared their acceptance of the rights and obligations provided for in the Agreement. Key prov ...
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Skylab 4
Skylab 4 (also SL-4 and SLM-3) was the third crewed Skylab mission and placed the third and final human spaceflight, crew aboard the first American space station. The mission began on November 16, 1973, with the launch of Gerald P. Carr, Edward Gibson, and William R. Pogue in an Apollo command and service module on a Saturn IB rocket from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and lasted 84 days, one hour and 16 minutes. A total of 6,051 astronaut-utilization hours were tallied by the Skylab 4 astronauts performing scientific experiments in the areas of medical activities, solar observations, Earth resources, observation of the Comet Kohoutek and other experiments. The crewed Skylab missions were officially designated Skylab 2, Skylab 3, 3, and 4. Miscommunication about the numbering resulted in the mission emblems reading "Skylab I", "Skylab II", and "Skylab 3" respectively. Launch NASA's launch center was located in an area called Cape Kennedy since November 28, 1963. Cape Ken ...
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Space Debris
Space debris (also known as space junk, space pollution, space waste, space trash, space garbage, or cosmic debris) are defunct human-made objects in spaceprincipally in Earth orbitwhich no longer serve a useful function. These include derelict spacecraft (nonfunctional spacecraft and abandoned launch vehicle stages), mission-related debris, and particularly numerous in-Earth orbit, fragmentation debris from the breakup of derelict rocket bodies and spacecraft. In addition to derelict human-made objects left in orbit, space debris includes fragments from disintegration, erosion, or collisions; solidified liquids expelled from spacecraft; unburned particles from solid rocket motors; and even paint flecks. Space debris represents a risk to spacecraft. Space debris is typically a negative externality. It creates an external cost on others from the initial action to launch or use a spacecraft in near-Earth orbit, a cost that is typically not taken into account nor fully accoun ...
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Scott Tilley
Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saskatchewan United States * Scott, Arkansas * Scott, Georgia * Scott, Indiana * Scott, Louisiana * Scott, Missouri * Scott, New York * Scott, Ohio * Scott, Wisconsin (other) (several places) * Fort Scott, Kansas * Great Scott Township, St. Louis County, Minnesota * Scott Air Force Base, Illinois * Scott City, Kansas * Scott City, Missouri * Scott County (other) (various states) * Scott Mountain (other) (several places) * Scott River, in California * Scott Township (other) (several places) Elsewhere * 876 Scott, minor planet orbiting the Sun * Scott (crater), a lunar impact crater near the south pole of the Moon *Scott Conservation Park, a protected area in South Australia Lists * Scott Point (disambi ...
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Magnetosphere
In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior Dynamo theory, dynamo. In the space environment close to a planetary body with a dipole magnetic field such as Earth, the field lines resemble a simple magnetic dipole. Farther out, field lines can be significantly distorted by the flow of electrically conducting plasma (physics), plasma, as emitted from the Sun (i.e., the solar wind) or a nearby star. Planets having active magnetospheres, like the Earth, are capable of mitigating or blocking the effects of solar radiation or cosmic radiation. Interactions of particles and atmospheres with magnetospheres are studied under the specialized scientific subjects of plasma physics, space physics, and aeronomy. History Study of Earth's magnetosphere began in 1600, when William Gilbert (astronomer), W ...
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NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States's civil list of government space agencies, space program, aeronautics research and outer space, space research. National Aeronautics and Space Act, Established in 1958, it succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the American space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science. It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury, Project Gemini, the 1968–1972 Apollo program missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle. Currently, NASA supports the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Commercial Crew Program and oversees the development of the Orion (spacecraft), Orion spacecraft and the Sp ...
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IMAGE (spacecraft)
IMAGE (Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration, Explorer 78 or MIDEX-1) was a NASA Medium Explorer program, Medium Explorer mission that studied the global response of the Magnetosphere, Earth's magnetosphere to changes in the solar wind. It was believed lost but as of August 2018 might be recoverable. It was launched 25 March 2000, at 20:34:43.929 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC, by a Delta II launch vehicle from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Vandenberg Air Force Base on a two-year mission. Almost six years later, it unexpectedly ceased operations in December 2005 during its extended mission and was declared lost. The spacecraft was part of NASA's Sun-Earth Connections Program, and its data has been used in over 400 research articles published in peer-reviewed journals. It had special cameras that provided various breakthroughs in understanding the dynamics of Plasma (physics), plasma around the Earth. The principal investigator was Jim Burch of the Southwest Res ...
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