4 ms·
If they do break up, those fractures will absorb a lot of the KE (but obviously leaving a significant fraction to cause carnage).
by rkangel 6y ago
If 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.