patchfree Sam 10 Oct 2009 - 15:24
Kosmos-192 releases debris
42 ans après son lancement un Kosmos se sépare en 20 morceaux.
Published: 2009 Oct. 9
A US radar detected as many as 20 debris from the Soviet Kosmos-192 satellite, a part of the Tsyklon navigation network. The satellite was launched on Nov. 23, 1967, and spewed its debris after almost 42 years in orbit, on Aug. 30, 2009, NASA's Orbital Debris Quarterly News reported. Known today as Parus ("Sail") series of satellites, Kosmos-192 was circling Earth in a 710 by 715-kilometer orbit with the inclination 74 degrees toward the Equator, when an event of unknown origin caused the debris. The satellite originally entered a 745 by 760-kilometer orbit, which was slowly decaying over four decades. According to NASA, the incident could be caused by a collision with an unknown object, or by a breach of the satellite's pressurized compartment, as a result of fatigue under extreme conditions in space.
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/cosmos3.html#kosmos192