4 ms·
I do wonder with the cost reduction, weight limit increase and turnaround time reduction if we could now skip a lot of "planning". Can we get to a point where
by swarnie 3y ago
I do wonder with the cost reduction, weight limit increase and turnaround time reduction if we could now skip a lot of "planning".
Can we get to a point where every kg doesn't need to be maliciously thought about and optimised, maybe we could just yeet any potentially useful thing in to orbit and sort it out later.
- kqr 3y agoI don't know what sort of orbits Starship is capable of but Kessler syndrome!
- hoseja 3y agoAll of the orbits. I would rather have a Kessler syndrome around Mars than not.
- inglor_cz 3y agoIn the lower orbits, everything will burn up in the atmosphere within five years or so. Orbital decay is very strong under some 400 km. Also, space is pretty big. Even with a million destroyed satellites out there, the total density of debris would be very low. Imagine spreading debris of a million destroyed cars all over the planet - including the oceans - then walking around and trying to spot a piece. How often would you even see one, much less happen to walk directly over it (=equivalent of a collision)?
- danw1979 3y agoThe thing is, in orbit you don’t really need to walk around to see the pieces of debris because they come blasting at you from all directions at 7km/s.
- inglor_cz 3y agoNevertheless, they are still in one place at one time. If anything, my comparison overstates the danger, because Earth's surface is 2D and in space, many of those pieces will fly over or under you.
- imchillyb 3y agoYour seemingly flippant attitude toward a catastrophic end does not mirror that of the world’s space agencies and leading minds. They are quite concerned about that particular outcome, Kessler wasn’t just warning us, but predicting an outcome. NASA sent China a nasty letter the last time China shot down one of its own satellites. The why is simple. There are launch windows. The more debris in orbit the smaller the windows and shorter their availability. I believe you overestimate how much orbital debris it would take to ground earthlings for centuries.
- Symmetry 3y agoI'd actually hope that it leads to fewer, larger satellites that it's practical to go up and repair. At least with a bit of regulatory oversight and some international treaties once this model suddenly becomes feasible with Starship.
- karamanolev 3y ago> maliciously You probably mean meticulously...
- librasteve 3y agoI prefer the original
- swarnie 3y agoEither/or works i think.
- lm28469 3y agoLike we "yeeted" pollutants for the better part of two centuries and are currently trying to "sort it out" right now ?
- ctoth 3y agoI think maybe it would do you some good to sit down for a moment and think about just how mindbogglingly big space is. I mean you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space.