Meteor Shower This Weekend: Space Station at Risk?
Draconids could be a meteor storm, threatening satellites, expert says.
If the forecasts are correct, the Draconids could see peak rates of up to 600 meteors an hour—an outburst that would far outpace even the crowd-pleasing August Perseids. (See Perseid pictures: "Meteor Shower Dazzles Every August.")
The possibility of a meteor storm has NASA and other spacecraft operators keeping keen eyes on how the Draconids might affect the International Space Station (ISS) and other satellites currently in Earth's orbit.
The biggest hazard to satellites during a meteor shower is electrostatic discharge associated with meteor impacts.
When a meteor hits a satellite at high speed, the tiny rock vaporizes into hot, electrically charged gas—or plasma—that can short out circuits and damage onboard electronics, causing the satellite to spin out of control.
(See
