[meteorite-list] Space junk re-entry just misses Chilean jetliner

From: Sterling K. Webb <sterling_k_webb_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2007 19:25:11 -0500
Message-ID: <012601c77261$e19d6010$0e2f4842_at_ATARIENGINE>

Hi,

    Since the Progress module was still docked
with the ISS when this happened, it seems it was
a "natural" bolide, probably far, far away from
the plane.
    If so, we missed a chance to start a new and
very exclusive "Hammer List"!
    A little scribbled arithmetic shows that the
average total upper surface area exposed by all
the commercial air flights of all the world's airlines
summed up by the time they spend in the air
amounts to the same collisional cross-section
as about 10 square kilometers of land down here
on the planet.
    Probably have to wait thousands of years for
a meteorite hit on a plane...


Sterling K. Webb
----------------------------------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Peterson" <clp at alumni.caltech.edu>
To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2007 4:29 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Space junk re-entry just misses Chilean
jetliner


So far, I've heard nothing to make me think that anything from space,
natural or otherwise, came within a few kilometers of this plane. Is
there anything to support this other than the report of the pilot? I've
found that pilots, in general, provide some of the worst quality meteor
reports. I'm doubtful that many pilots are capable of judging the
distance to a meteor. Odds are, this thing actually burned up many
kilometers above the plane.

Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Kevin Forbes" <vk3ukf at hotmail.com>
To: <Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2007 2:25 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Space junk re-entry just misses Chilean jet
liner

> Burning space junk falls near passenger plane
> NZPA | Wednesday, 28 March 2007
>
> The Civil Aviation Authority will investigate how falling space junk
> came
> within kilometres of a passenger flight into Auckland today.
>
>
> The pilot of the Chilean plane saw the burning debris both in front
> and
> behind the aircraft while flying across the Pacific before landing
> safely at
> Auckland International Airport, One News reported tonight.
>
> Russian authorities had warned an obsolete satellite was expected to
> fall in
> the area, but it happened 12 hours early.
>
> A CAA spokesman said details had not yet been passed on to the
> authority,
> but a safety investigation would be launched once a report on the
> incident
> was received.
>
>
> ----------------------
> Kevin.

______________________________________________
Meteorite-list mailing list
Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
Received on Thu 29 Mar 2007 08:25:11 PM PDT