4 ms·
Considering they have nearly opposite velocities, would any debris have enough velocity to stay in orbit after a collision? I'd assume the majority would fall
by ladberg 6y ago
Considering they have nearly opposite velocities, would any debris have enough velocity to stay in orbit after a collision?
I'd assume the majority would fall out of orbit while maybe a few smaller pieces stay up, but if anyone knows of similar past events or simulations for reference then I'd be interested in seeing them!
- p1mrx 6y agoHere's a video of two paintballs colliding in midair. Use your imagination: https://youtu.be/0fP_k6y9ows?t=372 https://youtu.be/0fP_k6y9ows?t=372
- TeMPOraL 6y agoNow for even more accurate picture, imagine the balls colliding off-centre, and their velocities misaligned by ~15 degrees. Enough to break them and induce some spin, not enough for significant cancellation of velocities.
- hinkley 6y agoAbout half the mass keeps going or moves upward, but half moves down. A small amount gains altitude but loses velocity (so it will fall to earth or go eccentric, which might be worse)
- mabbo 6y agoAt these speeds and masses, it's best to think of the objects as if they were water. Imagine two globs of water colliding at high speed. Are they going to just cancel out and drop? Or are they going to splash in all directions? In this case, the splash will be metal pieces, hitting every other satellite in orbit.
- colechristensen 6y agoThe kinetic energy has to go somewhere, some of it will be heat, much of it will stay as kinetic energy. Many pieces in many different orbits. A collision like this could be disastrous to earth orbit.
- rkangel 6y agoIf they do break up, those fractures will absorb a lot of the KE (but obviously leaving a significant fraction to cause carnage).
- hinkley 6y agoWhen metal tears, there’s a shockwave that sends most of the energy of the initial tear across the material. Like a martial artist breaking board, most of the effort goes into the initial break, and the rest is a much smaller input. It’s why structural members on planes and the feet of the Starship prototypes have holes. It arrests the fracture. Satellites won’t have as much material that behaves this way, so I wouldn’t count in too much KE being converted.
- extropy 6y agoYes it will not stay in the orbit. And overall the orbital velocity will be significantly lower. However debris ejected sideways will have significant velocity, orbital or sometimes even higher and that's the real risk here.