Hi All, There is an interesting post on SpaceWeather today reporting that a hole has appeared in one of the many solar panels of the International Space Station. Here's a link to an image of the hole tweeted by Commander Chris Hadfield:
https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/status/328920180241596417/photo/1 Hadfield's explanation is that the hole was made by a small stone. I find this highly unlikely; the much more probable explanation is that it was a tiny fragment of manmade space junk -- perhaps little more than a paint chip. I have to believe even a tiny meteoroid would have done more damage than just punching a hole through the panel. Consider this image: http://images.gizmag.com/inline/space-debris-kessler-syndrome-nasa-debri sat-7.jpg Note the ratio of the impactor's diameter to that of the hole produced. And this was for the relatively slow velocity of 6.8 km/sec -- a micrometeoroid would likely have a velocity at least twice as great. --Rob ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list [email protected] http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
