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There was drama in space today...
The debris from a former Russian satellite were on collision course with the Danish Orsted satellite
The former Russian satellite is today an orbiting junk yard with 20000 pieces of metal
orbiting the Earth at 85000 km/h
Today, the debris was expected to pass 500 meters from the Danish Orsted satellite
and this could mark the end of the Danish adventure in space
It's not Houston but Herlev
We are in the Orsted control room
It's almost as exciting as the launch
It's almost 2 PM and the operators are nervous
If one of the pieces hits Orsted it will be completely destroyed
Peter Stauning has worked on the satellite since 1992
Orsted is our baby and we are very proud of it and what it has accomplished over the years
Orsted is a small satellite, the size of a case of beer
with an 8 meter long boom
It was launched in 1999 and it's life time has exceeded all expectations
with ground breaking scientific results
Orsted has provided us with very accurate measurements of the magnetic field around Earth
Orsted passed the space debris already around 11 AM
but it's first at 2:16 PM that it is scheduled for contact with the control center in Copenhagen
If there is no signal we know something has happened
It is getting very close now...
Orsted is alive :-)
Orsted was only 266 meters from being hit by a debris