For Science: NASA to Demolish Spacecraft

Boom! NASA to Demolish Spacecraft in the Name of Science

by Leonard David, SPACE.com’s Space Insider Columnist

Date: 05 November 2012 Time: 12:38 PM ET

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Space can be sprinkled with jagged junk resulting from satellite collisions. CREDIT: Melrae Pictures/Space Junk 3D View full size image

Work is underway to create a spacecraft that won't be rocketed into outer space but will be purposely destroyed on the ground.

DebriSat is a 110-pound (50 kilograms) satellite that's a double for a modern low-Earth orbit spacecraft in terms of its components, materials used, and fabrication procedures. But once fabricated and tested, DebriSat is doomed.

The spacecraft will be the target of a future hypervelocity impact experiment to examine the physical characteristics of debris created when two satellites collide.

More - Link >>> http://www.space.com/18349-debrisat-spacecraft-destroy-space-junk.html

Source: Space.com .

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