Iridium is not the only bad news.
The 17 ton Cpmpton Gamma Ray Observatory is one of the most fruitful
scientific satellites in history, revolutionizing our understanding of Black Holes
and Gamma Ray Bursters among many other things. The device is a jewel, it's
still working fine, it's still producing priceless data. Thus NASA has decided to
destroy it on June 3.
It seems that one of its 3 gyroscopes has failed, this has no effect on observations
but if another one dies they wouldn't be able to make a controlled re-entry. According
to NASA's figures, in a uncontrolled re-entry there is one chance in a thousand the
debris will hit somebody. There is enough fuel to boost it into a higher orbit so it won't
re-enter for at least a century but this was felt to be unfair to our poor descendents,
they just wouldn't be able to defend themselves from such a thing. So this typical
government agency came up with a better idea, they will use the fuel to push one of
the most marvelous instrument ever made in the opposite direction and crash it into
the Pacific Ocean.
This solution gives insight into NASA's values and its idea of what the future
will be like. We must take measures to make sure there is not one chance in
a thousand of killing somebody in a 100 years, especially for a reason as trivial as
scientific knowledge. Even in the year 2100 a re-entering 17 ton non-radioactive
satellite in a very predictable orbit will still be an awesome danger to our powerless
descendents.
John K Clark jonkc@att.net
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