4 ms·
I wonder if they could add a trash launcher to the ISS. If some kind of spring or slingshot threw trash retrograde with sufficient velocity, there should be tw
by aeternum 6y ago
I wonder if they could add a trash launcher to the ISS. If some kind of spring or slingshot threw trash retrograde with sufficient velocity, there should be two advantages:
1) The trash would be put in an orbit with a lower periapsis, increasing atmospheric drag causing it to re-enter and burn up more quickly.
2) The orbit of the ISS would be boosted by dV of the trash, reducing the fuel required for the next boost.
- sterlind 6y agoWould you have to launch half the trash at apoapsis and half at periapsis to keep the orbit from deviating? (I've only played ksp.)
- 4gotunameagain 6y agoSince to not alter your orbit you'd need one prograde moment and one retrograde, one of the two launches you describe would raise the apogee instead of lowering the perigee, defeating the purpose
- Just1689 6y agoJust a question: Would pushing the trash away also push the space station in the opposite direction?
- 67868018 6y agoyep, equal and opposite reaction. they'd have to counteract it.
- aeternum 6y agoYes, but that is part of the point. Atmospheric drag causes the orbit of the ISS to continuously decay (fall deeper into the atmosphere). The ISS must expend fuel to push its orbit back up periodically. The momentum of the trash would help push the ISS higher.