[amsat-bb] Re: Chilean plane escapes flaming space junk

[Robert Bruninga]

> >... space debris nearly hit a passenger plane !! 
> >
> >http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=4122&sectionid=3510206
>
>http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/auckland/4008929a1
0.html
>
>   2.	The reported "nearly hit" miss distance is reported 
> to be 8KM. Maybe it was 7KM or was it 9KM?

When we recently were alerted to a possible collision with one
of our small satellites last week because the predicted
intercept was going to be as close as 300 meters, one can
understand the concern at 18,500 MPH collision. 

But then we calculated the probability of two 1/2 meter size
objects passing through the same point within 300 meters and
were amazed that the probabilty of actually hitting each other
was still less than one in a million..  

Bob