4 ms·
That would be well into sci-fi movie plot territory though... The atmosphere is far too variable to predict a specific deorbit point months in advance.
by JshWright 11y ago
That would be well into sci-fi movie plot territory though... The atmosphere is far too variable to predict a specific deorbit point months in advance.
- theGimp 11y agoNot if you include a thruster :)
- mikeash 11y agoYou've reinvented fractional orbital bombardment: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_Orbital_Bombardment_System https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_Orbital_Bombardme...
- cperciva 11y agoAs far as "bad science" movie plot holes go, I don't think this would even be on the list.
- saulrh 11y agoAlso, the movie would end anticlimactically about thirty minutes after the discovery as the offending satellite orbits too close to a US Navy missile cruiser and gets blown out of the sky. :P
- cperciva 11y agoNo, there would be a plot twist where the US military threatens to shoot down the satellite, but the hero would stop them from doing this at the last minute due to the threat supposedly posed by having radioactive material raining down on half of the planet. ;-)
- saulrh 11y agoheaddesk