Most of you have, by now, read the stories, including good ones by Bill Broad (who had it first) and Joel Achenbach, about the catastrophic (and possibly cascading) collision between an Iridium satellite and a defunct Russian Cosmos satellite. Geoff Forden here at Arms Control Wonk and Josh Pollack, newly installed at Total Wonkerr, are …
The Future (of Space) Is Now
by | 2009-02-11 | 37 Comments
Iridium Constellation. Note how the orbits cross each other near the poles Iridium and Cosmos Satellites Collide! Some of us have been warning about a catastrophic chain reaction of space collisions that could render near Earth orbits unusable for tens or hundreds of years. Unfortunately, it is very likely that we are going to see …
Is the Safir 2 or 3 Stages?
by | 2009-02-11 | 47 Comments
I keep meaning to write something about US nuclear posture soon, but the day-job is all consuming right now. In the meantime, I want to point out the fascinating debate begun by Geoff Forden on whether the Safir, Iran’s new space launch vehicle, has two-stages — as Iran claims — or uses a small third …
Miss Atom 2009
by | 2009-02-10 | 9 Comments
It’s February so it’s time for the Wonk’s perennial favourite… Miss Atom: the beauty contest for workers in the Russian nuclear industry. For those of you who are new readers: check out the 2008 and 2007 posts for the backstory.
