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Nasa warns new meteor storm 'could damage Hubble and International Space Station'
By Andrew Hough
Published: 6:30PM BST 17 Jun 2010

Satellites such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station are under new threat from the most powerful meteor storm in more than a decade, Nasa scientists have warned.

(http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01660/meteor_1660000c.jpg)
Nasa says the storm which light up the sky, like this shower of Leonid meteors did as they streak across the sky in Rikubetsu, Japan.  Photo: REUTERS 

Astronomers believe the seven-hour bombardment from the comet debris, due later next year, could strike orbiting spacecraft and wreck their electronics.

Space Agency scientists said it will likely create a spectacular visual event for star gazers.

Nasa said the storm, which crosses the Earth's orbit around the sun every October, comes from a meteor shower called the Draconids.

It has been given that name because the meteors appear to stream in from the direction of the constellation of Draco the Dragon. They are also known as the Giacobinids after the name of the comet that dumped them, Giacobini-Zinner.

Nasa scientists admitted this week they were unclear how serious the storm will be, but spacecraft operators were already being notified to develop defensive mechanisms.

As a result, Nasa is currently investigating reorienting the international space station and Hubble space telescope to ensure vulnerable areas are turned away from the incoming sandblast...............mera