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Kudos to SpaceX for potential lower latency internet service. But I'm concerned about the light pollution caused by Starlink satellites at night: https://www.u

Kudos to SpaceX for potential lower latency internet service. But I'm concerned about the light pollution caused by Starlink satellites at night: https://www.unilad.co.uk/science/spacex-to-test-starlink-sun-visor-to-reduce-brightness-of-satellite/ https://www.unilad.co.uk/science/spacex-to-test-starlink-sun.... If they don't fix it, it would look awful for people who prefer a clean sky. And an average people wouldn't have a mean to mitigate that - it's not like a drone flying on top of your roof and you can shoot it down, it's a set of satellites thousands miles away. And if the parts of those satellites broke down, I wonder how much SpaceX itself could do to fix them. If the broken satellites end up a space garbage, that reminds me of the film scene in Gravity. This is a problem we already have today, contributed by all aerospace institutions. I guess people are treating it just like any other garbage around us: if it doesn't show in my eye, it's not my problem. But it's a harder problem than things like metal garbage on the ground, the latter you could recycle, but I don't know if people really recycle a satellite.

sacred_numbers 6y ago
Regarding light pollution: It's not as bad as it seems, since the satellites really only show up while they are raising their orbits, and usually only during dusk and dawn. Once they're in their final orbit you can't really see them. Also, SpaceX are working on the problem. They are testing a sun screen that will block light from reflecting towards Earth while being far enough away from the satellite to prevent overheating. Regarding space junk: These satellites are in low orbits, so if the satellite breaks it will just re-enter the atmosphere and get burned up within a few months or so. I believe they also have a deployable drag device to intentionally de-orbit the satellites at their end of life, or if there's a problem with the satellite.

sacred_numbers 6y ago

Regarding light pollution: It's not as bad as it seems, since the satellites really only show up while they are raising their orbits, and usually only during dusk and dawn. Once they're in their final orbit you can't really see them. Also, SpaceX are working on the problem. They are testing a sun screen that will block light from reflecting towards Earth while being far enough away from the satellite to prevent overheating. Regarding space junk: These satellites are in low orbits, so if the satellite breaks it will just re-enter the atmosphere and get burned up within a few months or so. I believe they also have a deployable drag device to intentionally de-orbit the satellites at their end of life, or if there's a problem with the satellite.