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If I was writing a science fiction... space debris is a wonderful way of imprisoning a planet. Just put a bunch of junk in orbit, now no one can get out. Only a

If I was writing a science fiction... space debris is a wonderful way of imprisoning a planet. Just put a bunch of junk in orbit, now no one can get out. Only a Han Solo type with asteroid avoiding skillz and a taste for danger. Maybe a built-in step in the intergalactic civilisation process is launching a bunch of satellites, letting them crash, and forming an orbiting wall. This gives baby civilisations a few millennia to grow into their newfound power as the space debris forms into rings, allowing launches again.

MauranKilom 5y ago
Space junk, like everything else in orbit, moves at speeds measured in kilometers per second. There is no asteroid weaving that lets you dodge a pea-sized steel fragment approaching you at 16 kilometers per second.
- dalbasal 5y ago
  You obviously have met my friend Han.
- thanatos519 5y ago
  But I heard Han Solo made the Kessler Run in 12 picoparsecs!
  - MauranKilom 5y ago
    > 12 picoparsecs That's... a length. About 230 miles or 370 kilometers to be exact. ;)
    - saagarjha 5y ago
      Ask the Star Wars writers.
jawilson2 5y ago
This is the plot of part of the Timothy Zahn Admiral Thrawn Books (Last Command). He cloaks something like 30 small asteroids and puts them in orbit around a rebel planet, but makes it appear like he might have released 100's. No one can enter or leave the planet until they are cleared, and they have no idea how many there are.
- uCantCauseUCant 5y ago
  There is another book fallen dragon, were the descendants of a californian colony, "lock up the sky". Santa Chico is the name of the planet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_Dragon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_Dragon
- PeterisP 5y ago
  Obviously people can enter or leave the planet as long as they're willing to take a risk of dying equal to [space covered by 100s random orbits] / [total surface of planet], which is nonzero but small. If you're launching straight up, thousands of such asteroids would leave you with 99% chance of success - the trouble is that with modern standards we generally don't consider 99% good enough - e.g. for space shuttle, 2 out of 135 crashed, getting almost 99%, and that's considered not ok; but if you really need to (as opposed to launches just for PR and science) then you can definitely get out of planet 90%+ of the time.
lttlrck 5y ago
There's a great sequence in Wall-E when he leaves Earth and breaks through the debris field. Not as you imagined but cool nonetheless. https://youtu.be/RmG5tUCrrsA&t=60 https://youtu.be/RmG5tUCrrsA&t=60

MauranKilom 5y ago

Space junk, like everything else in orbit, moves at speeds measured in kilometers per second. There is no asteroid weaving that lets you dodge a pea-sized steel fragment approaching you at 16 kilometers per second.

dalbasal 5y ago
You obviously have met my friend Han.
thanatos519 5y ago
But I heard Han Solo made the Kessler Run in 12 picoparsecs!
- MauranKilom 5y ago
  > 12 picoparsecs That's... a length. About 230 miles or 370 kilometers to be exact. ;)
  - saagarjha 5y ago
    Ask the Star Wars writers.

jawilson2 5y ago

This is the plot of part of the Timothy Zahn Admiral Thrawn Books (Last Command). He cloaks something like 30 small asteroids and puts them in orbit around a rebel planet, but makes it appear like he might have released 100's. No one can enter or leave the planet until they are cleared, and they have no idea how many there are.

uCantCauseUCant 5y ago
There is another book fallen dragon, were the descendants of a californian colony, "lock up the sky". Santa Chico is the name of the planet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_Dragon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_Dragon
PeterisP 5y ago
Obviously people can enter or leave the planet as long as they're willing to take a risk of dying equal to [space covered by 100s random orbits] / [total surface of planet], which is nonzero but small. If you're launching straight up, thousands of such asteroids would leave you with 99% chance of success - the trouble is that with modern standards we generally don't consider 99% good enough - e.g. for space shuttle, 2 out of 135 crashed, getting almost 99%, and that's considered not ok; but if you really need to (as opposed to launches just for PR and science) then you can definitely get out of planet 90%+ of the time.

lttlrck 5y ago

There's a great sequence in Wall-E when he leaves Earth and breaks through the debris field. Not as you imagined but cool nonetheless. https://youtu.be/RmG5tUCrrsA&t=60 https://youtu.be/RmG5tUCrrsA&t=60