Space trash

In light of the weeks news of the derelict Soviet satellite colliding with a privately owned communications satellite and the resulting debris....I was curious and clicked on another story that had this drawing. In it, we can see the growing amount of space trash that is littering the skies above our our planet in long term orbit. For instance, it is my understanding from reading the article, that the debris from this latest collision should be able to remain in orbit for 10,000 years. Due to this situation, possibly, we will need to create a new bureaucracy soon, according to radio reports, that will institute a space "traffic control". Worlwide meetings are already scheduled for later this year.

While listening to the radio report on NPR, I was able to learn that any object that is at least the size of a baseball can and is being tracked. This is impressive indeed, but we can only imagine how much other shards are up there that we know nothing about. When they are whizzing along at orbital speeds, it does not take much mass to ruin your day.

The problem of the growing clutter is greater than I was aware of, as again on the radio report, they stated that NASA has rated the debris poses a greater risk now for the Shuttle, than either launch or re-entry!

Now, that is bad.

EMF said:

The problem of the growing clutter is greater than I was aware of, as again on the radio report, they stated that NASA has rated the debris poses a greater risk now for the Shuttle, than either launch or re-entry!

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Geeze, weren't those the most dangerous expected risks to begin with? :|

Catch it in a big, carbon nanotube net and sell it on eBay.

Yeah, but apparently, the debris is now the top hazard. I guess this used to not be the case... Also, the recent satellite collision sucks, because these items were in a polar orbit if I understand it correctly. So you have crap sailing around at a right angle to shuttles and the space station etc.

Over time, for whatever reason, all the debris out there has the tendency to spread out evenly and eventually create a "shell" of debris around the Earth too, (from what I have been reading about the subject) making it more of a pain in the ass to avoid I would imagine. I would hate to see some of this stuff collide.

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I'm glad I have only got about 20-30 more years or so- then I am outa here. I would hate to have been just born...

EMF said:

I'm glad I have only got about 20-30 more years or so- then I am outa here. I would hate to have been just born...

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I wish I could delay my birth by a couple of decades. I reason the further in the future I observe, the better, as technology just keeps getting more and more exciting.

swbluto said:

I wish I could delay my birth by a couple of decades. I reason the further in the future I observe, the better, as technology just keeps getting more and more exciting.

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This.

Also: Where is my jetpack?

That collision made me think, whats up with NASA and our Nuclear defense (all the other countries space programs too)? Here we are, made to believe these scientist are infallible (they did predict GW, did they not) and they can not keep a couple of satellites from hitting each other. They are tracking them, are they not? What a bunch of idiots, what the hell are we giving them billions of dollars for? Do we need some amateur astronomers to do their business for them?

What are they, all stoned at NASA? :wink:

Deron.

deronmoped said:

That collision made me think, whats up with NASA and our Nuclear defense (all the other countries space programs too)? Here we are, made to believe these scientist are infallible (they did predict GW, did they not) and they can not keep a couple of satellites from hitting each other. They are tracking them, are they not? What a bunch of idiots, what the hell are we giving them billions of dollars for? Do we need some amateur astronomers to do their business for them?

What are they, all stoned at NASA? :wink:

Deron.

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Your posts in general lead me to believe you possess more defacto anti-intellectual and anti-scientist sentiments than sentiments about the disdainfully herd's unfailing trust in experts. What place do you think scientists have in society, if any? Do you think progress would be nearly as great as it is without them?

I think you will find that pic is a up close view of earth..if you draw back you will see a satern typ ring of rubish to.

If we all just think it the rubish will not be there.1 more step into the looking glass.hay there is no crap around our planet.Oh thats relative? or is it init. i still say shrodingers cat got PWND!

http://www.physics.unlv.edu/~jeffery/astro/astro1/lec005.html

By the way, these pictures' enlargements are misleading. No piece of trash is close to 1/1000th of the diameter of the earth.

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I think we are being set up for a "project" - translation: Boondoggle to either monitor or clean up the orbital debris around mother Earth. I read a news story yesterday that said the space shanty "astronauts" had to flee to the Russian Soyuz capsule like cockroaches due to a 5 inch chunk of satellite stabilization "debris" that was headed their way at 20,000 MPH.

The good folks on the ground lamented that normally they can move the station, but this one slipped by their ever attentive gaze and there simply was no time to maneuver to a safer orbit. Coincidence? I don't think so! *rolls eyes* Bend over taxpayers!

If only something would hit that tin can and force them to ditch it in the ocean like all the other "space labs". When these things go down, that makes good, exciting news for a few days. Especially on the day before the orbit degrades and the bus sized pieces start skipping along the outer atmosphere, throwing off flames, huge chunks of fiery shrapnel and such.

Then the reporters breathlessly estimate how big the biggest "chunk" will be that survives the re-entry heat and what would happen if it struck your house. Quickly followed up of course by some NASA dweeb chuckling at the unlikelihood of such a catastrophic event...

I've got a better idea. Close the "International" space station and send it on it's way to the Sun. We have been circling the Earth in one beer can or another, for nearly 50 years now and I think it is time to turn out the lights on this idiocy. If they haven't done what they need to do up there by now- then forget it. We will just struggle along the best we can down here on old Terra Firma without their dubious "research".

The last request I heard from the inhabitants of the trailer in the sky is that the Russians felt they needed some rules relaxed since they could sure use some Vodka up there. WTF!

I got better things to spend my tax money on, than performing liquor runs for folks with an itch for a cocktail in space.