Eatmeingreek
Gentard
join:2001-06-29
San Francisco, CA
| reply to rchandra
Re: Interesting...but do we have the space?
There are only two zones in Earth orbit where space junk is a concern. LEO (Low Earth Orbit) which is at about 100 miles up, and Geosynchronous
orbit.
Lingus is right in that there is a whole lot of room up there, even in Earth orbit. Also, the vast majority of space junk would burn up in the atmosphere if it were ever to re-enter, so it doesn't really pose a hazard (there are exceptions) to humans on the ground.
The problem is that LEO and Geosynchronous are getting kind crowded after 50-odd years of space launches. A collision in Geosynchronous means an expensive satellite bites the dust. A collision in LEO can mean dead astronauts.
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Honey, the fairies are going to drive me to drink - My brother. |
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rchandra
Stargate S G-1 And Atlantis Fan
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join:2000-11-09
14225-2105
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| reply to KrK
one little note I'd like to add to this discussion: space may be expansive, but there are practical limits too. Signal strength varies inversely with the square of distance, if I recall my physics correctly. Sure, you can orbit a satellite at a distance greater than the moon, but what kind of power are you going to need to reach it? And what kind of power will be needed to get back, which will affect the size/bulk of this satellite? And what kind of RTT delays are you willing to tolerate?
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
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| reply to Lingus
The problem is simple. We've got all kinds of junk in earth orbit... much of it unintentional and too small to be tracked. It's really been a miracle at this point that nobody has been killed by space debris collision. Satellites have died from it. The problem is simple physics... you have a small object, which has very little mass, let's say it's a screw the size of one of the screws which holds PC slot covers on.... Now, it's in Earth orbit, so it's circling the earth at thousands of miles per hour.... and it's too small to track.
So, along comes XYZ company, and they launch their new multi-billion dollar communication satellite into earth orbit... unfortunately that orbit has a intersection with the aforementioned screw. When that screw hits it, well, for comparison, imagine what would happen to your car if it was hit by a tank shell. You get the idea.... and the collision itself would release numerous MORE debris.
SPACE itself may be massive..... But the space around the Earth isn't, and that's where 99.9% of the junk goes. |
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