3 ms·

On one hand, yes, you're entirely right about the eventual outcome, but on the other hand, let's get there gracefully. The article describes an event akin to co

On one hand, yes, you're entirely right about the eventual outcome, but on the other hand, let's get there gracefully. The article describes an event akin to commercial light pollution or commercial aviation, with the similar cause of private industry charging ahead of regulation and standards. It could be that the only solution is to quickly act to regulate space more completely, but we don't have a healthy international political climate for such regulation right now. Also, in terms of quality of evidence, there is sadly a relatively strong pseudoscientific strain of thought that denies any astronomy done from space. If we stop taking high-quality photos from the surface of the Earth using relatively mundane methods, then the flat-Earthers win. Finally, what if Kessler Syndrome sets in? In that case, it would not be cheaper to launch a telescope into space, even if the telescope is destined for a relatively distant place like a Lagrange point, since it first must run a gauntlet of debris. Meanwhile, observations from the ground would certainly be twinklier and noisier but not especially more expensive.

ncallaway 7y ago
> On one hand, yes, you're entirely right about the eventual outcome, but on the other hand, let's get there gracefully. The problem with a "get there gradually" approach (at least as I understand it, and I may not have understood you correctly) is that it pretty much precludes a useful LEO constellation. A LEO constellation is not really useful unless it has a significant number of satellites. Putting up 1% of the satellites doesn't really get you 1% of the functionality of the system. There's a minimum threshold you have to hit for the system to really be viable at all. Which means at _some_ point (if we have LEO constellations at all) we're going to have to really rapidly go from very few LEO satellites to a large number.
Miraste 7y ago
> in terms of quality of evidence, there is sadly a relatively strong pseudoscientific strain of thought that denies any astronomy done from space. If we stop taking high-quality photos from the surface of the Earth using relatively mundane methods, then the flat-Earthers win. This isn't a real problem with the quality of the photos. Such people should be kept out of power and otherwise ignored. > what if Kessler Syndrome sets in? Starlink can't result in Kessler Syndrome. The time it takes orbits to decay from that altitude is measured in single-digit years.
shadowgovt 7y ago
Of all the political groups that we should be worried about catering to regarding best course of action for deployment of space communication tools, the flat-Earthers should be at the absolute bottom of the concern pile.

ncallaway 7y ago

> On one hand, yes, you're entirely right about the eventual outcome, but on the other hand, let's get there gracefully. The problem with a "get there gradually" approach (at least as I understand it, and I may not have understood you correctly) is that it pretty much precludes a useful LEO constellation. A LEO constellation is not really useful unless it has a significant number of satellites. Putting up 1% of the satellites doesn't really get you 1% of the functionality of the system. There's a minimum threshold you have to hit for the system to really be viable at all. Which means at _some_ point (if we have LEO constellations at all) we're going to have to really rapidly go from very few LEO satellites to a large number.

Miraste 7y ago

> in terms of quality of evidence, there is sadly a relatively strong pseudoscientific strain of thought that denies any astronomy done from space. If we stop taking high-quality photos from the surface of the Earth using relatively mundane methods, then the flat-Earthers win. This isn't a real problem with the quality of the photos. Such people should be kept out of power and otherwise ignored. > what if Kessler Syndrome sets in? Starlink can't result in Kessler Syndrome. The time it takes orbits to decay from that altitude is measured in single-digit years.

shadowgovt 7y ago

Of all the political groups that we should be worried about catering to regarding best course of action for deployment of space communication tools, the flat-Earthers should be at the absolute bottom of the concern pile.