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How the Kessler Syndrome can end all space exploration and destroy modern life
- dang 8y agoDiscussed at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16271434 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16271434.
- woodandsteel 8y agoThis is why we really need a system to collect orbital junk and take it down out of orbit. And you know, if the BFR performs as promised, it will make putting the junk collectors into orbit so cheap that the whole project could be practical.
- woodandsteel 8y agoI thought this out some more, and came up with an idea for a garbage-collection satellite. The most obvious idea is to launch each satellite, have it collect garbage until it is full, and then fire a retro-rocket to take it out of orbit so it burns up on re-entry. The problem with that plan is the large and exspensive garbage collector gets only one use. I think it would get you a lot more bang for the buck if the garbage collector has a bunch of folded bags, each with a small solid fuel rocket attached. It would unfold a bag, fill it up, then release it and order the attached retro-rocket to fire and take it out of orbit. Then it would unfold the next bag, and so on. In fact, maybe when it ran out of bags you could send up a resupply satellite.