http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace/c75af8183ef27010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html This is the first photograph taken by a microsatellite of another object in space that has ever been released to the general public. The object near the center is the upper stage of a Minotaur I rocket that was used to launch the Experimental Satellite System-11, commonly known as XSS-11. The photograph was taken by the digital "witness camera" aboard XSS-11, a dishwasher-size microsatellite developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory. XSS-11 was launched in April and has since conducted numerous "proximity operations"?approaching and maneuvering around the spent Minotaur rocket stage at distances as close as 500 meters (the distance at which this photo was taken, about a third of a mile). Over the next year, the spacecraft will rendezvous with several other U.S.-owned dead or inactive objects in space. <snip> Out of curiosity, how far from its original orbit could this satellite possibly maneuver? In the factsheet put out by the Air Force Research Lab: http://www.vs.afrl.af.mil/FactSheets/XSS11-MicroSatellite.pdf they say that it will observe objects "near" its own orbit. I don't know that much about astrodynamics, so this may be a naive question, but wouldn't they have to have a lot of these up in various orbits if they wanted to be able to attack (oops, I mean "inspect") any arbitrary satellite? Or are there tricks they can play with orbital dynamics to get to any satellite with enough patience? Also, is this too off-topic? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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