A pair of satellites
collided on Wednesday and the resulting debris poses a greater than normal
risk to damage the Hubble Space Telescope. The chief scientist of NASA's Orbital
Debris Office told
ABC that the debris will fall through Hubble's altitude so they are
concerned: "Also, unlike other spacecraft, Hubble has no evasive capabilities.
If NASA scientists think a piece of debris is about to cross paths with the
telescope, it can't rely on rockets or other propulsion capabilities to move it.
Their only option is to tilt the telescope so that it presents the smallest
cross section possible"