(WS News) – A mystery object travelling at a great speed hit a satellite and gorged a hole in it, sending scientists on a wild goose chase to find the culprit.
However, they might never know what caused it. It could either be a micrometeoroid or a piece of space debris.
NanoAvionics, a satellite company, released images showing the damage caused to its MP42 satellite which was launched in 2022. The satellite was made to host several instruments for different customers.
The company has raised concerns about the need to be more responsible in space operations.
“Whether this impact was from a micrometeoroid or a piece of space debris, the collision highlights the need for responsible space operations in orbit and makes us reflect on satellite resilience against these types of events,” NanoAvionics wrote online.
Impacts from small meteoroids are a constant danger in space. However, avoiding them is not possible. But experts have been raising the issue of space debris for years which can lead to more such hits in the coming years.
The increasing space debris can lead to the Kessler effect where a domino effect is triggered leading to more and more space collisions.
The company says that the impact in this case did not lead to more debris, but left a small hole in a solar panel.
Posting a photo of the satellite, the company wrote on social media, “This space debris or micrometeoroid impact would have been left unnoticed if not for MP42’s selfie camera.”
This space debris or micrometeoroid impact would have been left unnoticed if not for MP42’s selfie camera.
But two questions still remain unanswered: When the impact occurred and what caused it.
“But two questions still remain unanswered: When the impact occurred and what caused it.”
WHO IS THE CULPRIT?
What caused the hole? The company doesn’t have a direct answer yet, but hinted that the odds don’t look good for man-made space debris. Quoting ESA, NanoAvionics wrote, “Our best bets are on a piece of space debris or a micrometeoroid.”
“So, what are the odds for either of those?”
Quoting the European Space Agency, NanoAvionics wrote, “Nearly 3 million kg of man-made objects orbit within 2000 km of Earth, whereas only 200 kg of meteoroid mass is present within 2000 km of Earth’s surface at any given moment.”
As per ESA, “A collision with a 1cm particle travelling 10 km/s (of which there are about a million in orbit) releases the same energy as a small car crashing at 40 km/h.”
Putting out the timeline of the incident, it said that the impact seems to have happened “sometime between April of 2023 and October of 2024. That probably doesn’t help much.”
