As controlling shareholders, the Barclay brothers are unlikely to agree to sell the Daily Telegraph, the mainobject of their bid, and may well keep the Spectator, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Jerusalem Post.
"A 5mm (0.2 inches) particle striking a large solar array is likely to have a very little long-lasting effect, but such an object hitting the main body of a satellite could cause a vital component to fail, " he said.
Abell says the best estimates now are that the Russian object was initially a rocky silicate asteroid that almost certainly originated from the main asteroid belt.