Is there a catalogue for re-entries of space junk?

[drpl]

Specifically, I'm after information about a Russian Cosmos booster rocket that re-entered somewhere near south-west England on 30th/31st March 1993, but what I'd like are co-ordinates and altitude of the break-up if possible. Is there a catalogue entry for such an event?<br /><br />TIA<br /><br />Paul

 

[comga]

Recent reentries were cataloged on "Decay Watch" at <br /><br />http://www.wingar.demon.co.uk/satevo/dkwatch/<br /><br />But that has neither very old nor new reentries. <br /><br />http://www.reentrynews.com/past.html <br /><br />has some from 1999 - 2004. They have a list of large objects but nothing in 1993.<br /><br />There are a lot of links at the Aerospace Corp like<br /><br />http://www.aero.org/capabilities/cords/pdfs/2001-reentry-chart.pdf<br /><br />but I haven't found any listings back to 1993.<br /><br />Good luck

 

[drpl]

Thanks for the excellent array of posts!<br /><br />Just one more question: I know this involves many variables, but do you know what altitude space "debris" begins to burn up? The event that I am thinking of was in 1993, so it was just after solar max, so the atmosphere wouldn't have been so expansive.<br /><br />I'm just trying to think of ball-park figures, based on the Columbia disaster, skylab and other re-entry events.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Well, as a comparison point, meteors typically occur at approx 100 km = 60 miles. The fastest (Leonids, Perseids, Orionids) have been measured at at 120 km (72 miles). These are however hitting the atmosphere at about 160,000 mph. Orbital velocity is about 18,000 mph, or approx 1/9th, which means that the energy is 1/81 as much (E=1/2*Mass*V^2), so an orbiting object would be much lower in the atmosphere before heating up. However, they are larger than meteors, so that does increase the energy.<br /><br />Taking all that into account on the back of my hand (no envelope handy) I'd estimate about 80 km or 50 miles up would be the start of heating. That is just an educated guess though. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>