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The point isn't that I should be worried. The point is that folks in ISS should be more worried than if they were, say, at 600km...
by chaboud 3y ago
The point isn't that I should be worried. The point is that folks in ISS should be more worried than if they were, say, at 600km...
- modeless 3y agoThe satellites can't just fall out of the sky suddenly like something hanging above your head. That's not how orbital mechanics works. ISS would have warning of any threat long in advance, plenty of time to make an avoidance maneuver or return to Earth in their lifeboat.
- chaboud 3y agoIs ISS between satellites that are expected to de-orbit and the Earth, or is it not? I'm well aware of tracking and avoidance mechanisms, but, up until now, I hadn't considered the orbital planes in use.
- modeless 3y agoThe satellites are expected to control their deorbit, just as they controlled their ascent, and neither controlled ascent nor controlled descent pose any threat to ISS. If a satellite failed in orbit and was unable to control its deorbit, it is still very unlikely that it would come anywhere close to colliding with ISS on the way down. And in the very unlikely event that it did, again there would be plenty of advance notice for ISS which could do a maneuver to avoid it.