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Vietnam: Officials probe mysterious 'space balls'

29 points by Perados 11y ago

__abc 11y ago
Wait, so we have to register our micro-drones, but there's no serial or identification # for this giant piece of metal
sandworm101 11y ago
Compressed air? What in modern rocketry uses compressed air? Helium sure, co2 maybe, but not air. Assuming these things are empty, 45kg seems very heavy for a rocket part.
- dawnbreez 11y ago
  Oxygen in liquid form is often a key component of rocket fuel, but that's not the same as "compressed air". Perhaps it's part of a human-carrying vehicle, maybe a chunk of what was meant to be a space station.
  - varjag 11y ago
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Drawing-Soyuz-TMA-exp12.png/600px-Drawing-Soyuz-TMA-exp12.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Dr... take your pick
  - sandworm101 11y ago
    If they had been filled with liquid 02 they would not have survived reentry. If the didn't burn up, they would hand landed like bombs. If it was rocket fuel, say hydrazine (these are too small for the kerosene used on lower stages) this would be a public health issue. Helium would be my bet for spherical tanks. Perhaps this was from some of the "ghost" boosters that are floating in low orbit such as from the SL-16 r/b launches in the 80s. Has this come down in the north/south I would assume it was from a not-public imaging sat or launch, but vietnam is near enough the equator that it could be anything.
  - zardo 11y ago
    Air has to be at a high pressure to sustain humans. AFAIK all spacecraft use pure O2 atmospheres at low ~3psi pressures.
- nitrogen 11y ago
  Don't they sometimes use compressed nitrogen to pressurize a fuel tank? Nitrogen is pretty much air without the O2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopropellant_rocket https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopropellant_rocket
mikeyouse 11y ago
Ask Steve Jurvetson.. He's always playing "ID the random space stuff" on his Flickr. Here's a few similar ones; https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/16116906896/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/16116906896/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/15951547108/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/15951547108/ He's got a cool feed.
tedd4u 11y ago
Pro tip: if you stumble upon space wreckage, don't run right up to it and start touching it with bare hands like the guy in the photograph. Get some gloves at least! Re-entry probably does a reasonable job cleaning off hydrazine or other dangerous fuels/reactants but I wouldn't bet my life on it.
sandworm101 11y ago
Found it. Mystery over. What's the fine for littering in Vietnam? http://www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predictions/upcoming-reentries-2-2/2015-074c/ http://www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predictions/upcoming-... Launch on dec 11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrQLacne89s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrQLacne89s Mission profile and payload. Elektro-L No. 2 weather-forecasting satellite. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/elektro-l2.html http://www.russianspaceweb.com/elektro-l2.html Edit: I think I was wrong about this being a blok-d upper. I think what came down over vietnam was the second stage of the rocket. This: http://www.russianspaceweb.com/zenit_stage2.html http://www.russianspaceweb.com/zenit_stage2.html Really BBC, do some digging before using the phrase "Space Balls" in a headline. It took like 40 minutes of googling to find everything about this debris.
- javajosh 11y ago
  > do some digging before using the phrase "Space Balls" in a headline Au contraire, mon fraire, I hope and pray that the BBC finds reason to put Space Balls into more headlines. The world is a better place for it.
- stefap2 11y ago
  Three minutes later, the protective payload fairing was jettisoned, unveiling the spacecraft and the Fregat-SB upper stage.[1] The stage is made up of six overlapping spherical sections, only four of which serve as propellant tanks. Two remaining spheres are actually instrument sections, one containing unpressurized avionics, which can function in vacuum of space and another, pressurized, section holding a flight control computer, which requires a temperature-controlled environment. At least four spherical gas tanks with a diameter of 375 millimeters and a capacity of 23 liters are carried onboard Fregat. [2] [1] http://www.alternative-learning.org/nl/wordpress/?p=4082 http://www.alternative-learning.org/nl/wordpress/?p=4082 [2] http://www.russianspaceweb.com/fregat.html http://www.russianspaceweb.com/fregat.html
  - sandworm101 11y ago
    I'm not sure either of us is correct. It did use a fregat upper stage, but that isn't what came down over vietnam. The fregat took the sat out to gto and wouldn't have come down so quickly. Aerospace.org is calling it a "SL-23 Rocket Body". I think it was the second stage that actually came down after a few days in the intital/parking orbit. Fregat would be a third stage. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/zenit_stage2.html http://www.russianspaceweb.com/zenit_stage2.html
dawkins 11y ago
In Spain they found a few similar "space balls" in November: http://www.iflscience.com/space/third-mysterious-orb-space-junk-found-spain http://www.iflscience.com/space/third-mysterious-orb-space-j...

29 points by Perados 11y ago

__abc 11y ago

Wait, so we have to register our micro-drones, but there's no serial or identification # for this giant piece of metal

Compressed air? What in modern rocketry uses compressed air? Helium sure, co2 maybe, but not air. Assuming these things are empty, 45kg seems very heavy for a rocket part.

dawnbreez 11y ago
Oxygen in liquid form is often a key component of rocket fuel, but that's not the same as "compressed air". Perhaps it's part of a human-carrying vehicle, maybe a chunk of what was meant to be a space station.
- varjag 11y ago
  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Drawing-Soyuz-TMA-exp12.png/600px-Drawing-Soyuz-TMA-exp12.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e1/Dr... take your pick
- sandworm101 11y ago
  If they had been filled with liquid 02 they would not have survived reentry. If the didn't burn up, they would hand landed like bombs. If it was rocket fuel, say hydrazine (these are too small for the kerosene used on lower stages) this would be a public health issue. Helium would be my bet for spherical tanks. Perhaps this was from some of the "ghost" boosters that are floating in low orbit such as from the SL-16 r/b launches in the 80s. Has this come down in the north/south I would assume it was from a not-public imaging sat or launch, but vietnam is near enough the equator that it could be anything.
- zardo 11y ago
  Air has to be at a high pressure to sustain humans. AFAIK all spacecraft use pure O2 atmospheres at low ~3psi pressures.
nitrogen 11y ago
Don't they sometimes use compressed nitrogen to pressurize a fuel tank? Nitrogen is pretty much air without the O2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopropellant_rocket https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopropellant_rocket

mikeyouse 11y ago

Ask Steve Jurvetson.. He's always playing "ID the random space stuff" on his Flickr. Here's a few similar ones; https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/16116906896/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/16116906896/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/15951547108/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/15951547108/ He's got a cool feed.

tedd4u 11y ago

Pro tip: if you stumble upon space wreckage, don't run right up to it and start touching it with bare hands like the guy in the photograph. Get some gloves at least! Re-entry probably does a reasonable job cleaning off hydrazine or other dangerous fuels/reactants but I wouldn't bet my life on it.

sandworm101 11y ago

Found it. Mystery over. What's the fine for littering in Vietnam? http://www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predictions/upcoming-reentries-2-2/2015-074c/ http://www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predictions/upcoming-... Launch on dec 11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrQLacne89s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrQLacne89s Mission profile and payload. Elektro-L No. 2 weather-forecasting satellite. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/elektro-l2.html http://www.russianspaceweb.com/elektro-l2.html Edit: I think I was wrong about this being a blok-d upper. I think what came down over vietnam was the second stage of the rocket. This: http://www.russianspaceweb.com/zenit_stage2.html http://www.russianspaceweb.com/zenit_stage2.html Really BBC, do some digging before using the phrase "Space Balls" in a headline. It took like 40 minutes of googling to find everything about this debris.

javajosh 11y ago
> do some digging before using the phrase "Space Balls" in a headline Au contraire, mon fraire, I hope and pray that the BBC finds reason to put Space Balls into more headlines. The world is a better place for it.
stefap2 11y ago
Three minutes later, the protective payload fairing was jettisoned, unveiling the spacecraft and the Fregat-SB upper stage.[1] The stage is made up of six overlapping spherical sections, only four of which serve as propellant tanks. Two remaining spheres are actually instrument sections, one containing unpressurized avionics, which can function in vacuum of space and another, pressurized, section holding a flight control computer, which requires a temperature-controlled environment. At least four spherical gas tanks with a diameter of 375 millimeters and a capacity of 23 liters are carried onboard Fregat. [2] [1] http://www.alternative-learning.org/nl/wordpress/?p=4082 http://www.alternative-learning.org/nl/wordpress/?p=4082 [2] http://www.russianspaceweb.com/fregat.html http://www.russianspaceweb.com/fregat.html
- sandworm101 11y ago
  I'm not sure either of us is correct. It did use a fregat upper stage, but that isn't what came down over vietnam. The fregat took the sat out to gto and wouldn't have come down so quickly. Aerospace.org is calling it a "SL-23 Rocket Body". I think it was the second stage that actually came down after a few days in the intital/parking orbit. Fregat would be a third stage. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/zenit_stage2.html http://www.russianspaceweb.com/zenit_stage2.html

dawkins 11y ago

In Spain they found a few similar "space balls" in November: http://www.iflscience.com/space/third-mysterious-orb-space-junk-found-spain http://www.iflscience.com/space/third-mysterious-orb-space-j...