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SpaceX building NASA craft to destroy the International Space Station

17 points by cebert 2y ago

tzfld 2y ago
Expecting great onboard stream of the deorbit process.
sen 2y ago
How accurately can they really de-orbit such a colossal object with so many parts that are bound to break off? Is this a “it’s fine, they can model it so well that they’ll target a couple hundred square kilometres in the middle of the ocean” thing or a “pieces will be spread across many thousands of kilometres, but it probably won’t hit anyone because the earth is really big..” thing.
- HPsquared 2y ago
  I guess it would break up at some point, and the timing of that event would affect the re-entry characteristics. It seems like a challenge for modelling, but maybe it's possible to put upper and lower bounds on the ballistic coefficient.
- pndy 2y ago
  Mir space station was de-orbited without issues. Tho I remember media reporting back then that Japanese govt was ready for worst case scenario - the reentry track lead over southern Japan and the fear was that biggest parts of the station could hit the inhabited areas. Luckily that didn't happen and what's left of the station sunk near Fiji. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deorbit_of_Mir https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deorbit_of_Mir The NASA's document released on Wednesday and linked in the article, "International Space Station Deorbit Analysis Summary" states that various solutions were considered including disassembly the station in parts but "this a less feasible, riskier, more costly disposal method." so a complete de-orbiting operation seems is the best way. https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/iss-deorbit-analysis-summary.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/iss-deorbit-...
- mytailorisrich 2y ago
  That's why they aim at Point Nemo. Nearest land is 2,500 km away so there is plenty of margin for all the small "bits" that might spread during break up.
doingtheiroming 2y ago
Surely they could just ask China.
adwf 2y ago
They should just ask Boeing to build a rocket to keep it in orbit, would be cheaper...
drpossum 2y ago
This is an egregiously bad clickbait headline that implies SpaceX is building something nefarious. This is for a planned end-of-life deorbit in several years and technically it is not the craft that will destroy it (that's the reentry's job), it's to do the deorbit in a controlled way. Here's the thread from yesterday https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40804856 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40804856
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- ainiriand 2y ago
  Yeah we shouldn't give attention to this kind of press.
- spookie 2y ago
  Thanks for the warning. I assumed it would be de-orbiting but still, a very bad headline prone to lead people into believing in something that's not going to happen.
pjio 2y ago
... after retiring
riffraff 2y ago
I'm sad they didn't decide to push it away. I imagine it would have required an insane amount of energy, but it would have been cool to imagine it drifting off, a-la "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets".
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
gnabgib 2y ago
Discussion (101 points, 21 hours ago, 126 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40804856 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40804856
evolve2k 2y ago
“… the agency sees privately built space stations as a way to replace the ISS at a fraction of the cost.” Of the upfront cost maybe, but it’s like moving from being the landlord to being the renter where there’s only a couple bungalows on the island. Costs be going way up year on year. Short sighted reasoning.
- mlindner 2y ago
  Costs aren't going way up year on year though. Keep in mind that NASA already sends billions per year to Boeing for station support.

17 points by cebert 2y ago

Expecting great onboard stream of the deorbit process.

sen 2y ago

How accurately can they really de-orbit such a colossal object with so many parts that are bound to break off? Is this a “it’s fine, they can model it so well that they’ll target a couple hundred square kilometres in the middle of the ocean” thing or a “pieces will be spread across many thousands of kilometres, but it probably won’t hit anyone because the earth is really big..” thing.

HPsquared 2y ago
I guess it would break up at some point, and the timing of that event would affect the re-entry characteristics. It seems like a challenge for modelling, but maybe it's possible to put upper and lower bounds on the ballistic coefficient.
pndy 2y ago
Mir space station was de-orbited without issues. Tho I remember media reporting back then that Japanese govt was ready for worst case scenario - the reentry track lead over southern Japan and the fear was that biggest parts of the station could hit the inhabited areas. Luckily that didn't happen and what's left of the station sunk near Fiji. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deorbit_of_Mir https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deorbit_of_Mir The NASA's document released on Wednesday and linked in the article, "International Space Station Deorbit Analysis Summary" states that various solutions were considered including disassembly the station in parts but "this a less feasible, riskier, more costly disposal method." so a complete de-orbiting operation seems is the best way. https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/iss-deorbit-analysis-summary.pdf https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/iss-deorbit-...
mytailorisrich 2y ago
That's why they aim at Point Nemo. Nearest land is 2,500 km away so there is plenty of margin for all the small "bits" that might spread during break up.

doingtheiroming 2y ago

Surely they could just ask China.

adwf 2y ago

They should just ask Boeing to build a rocket to keep it in orbit, would be cheaper...

drpossum 2y ago

This is an egregiously bad clickbait headline that implies SpaceX is building something nefarious. This is for a planned end-of-life deorbit in several years and technically it is not the craft that will destroy it (that's the reentry's job), it's to do the deorbit in a controlled way. Here's the thread from yesterday https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40804856 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40804856

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
ainiriand 2y ago
Yeah we shouldn't give attention to this kind of press.
spookie 2y ago
Thanks for the warning. I assumed it would be de-orbiting but still, a very bad headline prone to lead people into believing in something that's not going to happen.

pjio 2y ago

... after retiring

riffraff 2y ago

I'm sad they didn't decide to push it away. I imagine it would have required an insane amount of energy, but it would have been cool to imagine it drifting off, a-la "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets".

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

gnabgib 2y ago

Discussion (101 points, 21 hours ago, 126 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40804856 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40804856

evolve2k 2y ago

“… the agency sees privately built space stations as a way to replace the ISS at a fraction of the cost.” Of the upfront cost maybe, but it’s like moving from being the landlord to being the renter where there’s only a couple bungalows on the island. Costs be going way up year on year. Short sighted reasoning.

mlindner 2y ago
Costs aren't going way up year on year though. Keep in mind that NASA already sends billions per year to Boeing for station support.