Posted on Nov 16, 2021
Russian anti-satellite test adds to worsening problem of space debris
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Russia has carried out a missile test, destroying one of its own satellites. The action has caused international outrage because the debris could threaten the International Space Station (ISS) and satellites in low-Earth orbit.
Russia's test of an anti-satellite (A-Sat) missile system is not the first of its kind.
Russia's test of an anti-satellite (A-Sat) missile system is not the first of its kind.
Russian anti-satellite test adds to worsening problem of space debris
Posted from bbc.com
Russia
Space
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 3
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Environmental impact
Gravity ensures that everything that goes up will eventually come back down - but the bath is currently being filled faster than the plug hole and the overflow pipe can empty it.
Some material from the A-Sat tests will come down to Earth, out of harm's way, but a significant proportion will head off to high altitudes where they will remain a hazard for years to come.
Humans and nature are also conspiring in unexpected ways to make the situation worse. The extra CO2 pumped into the atmosphere down the years has cooled some of its highest reaches - the thermosphere.
This - combined with low levels of solar activity - have shrunk the atmosphere, limiting the amount of drag on orbital objects that ordinarily helps to pull debris from the sky. In other words, the junk is also staying up longer.
Leaving aside the growth in debris from collisions for a moment, the number of satellites being sent into space is also increasing rapidly.
Go back to the 2000s, and the average for the number of satellites launched each year would be about 100. In this decade, the proliferation of small satellite technologies will likely see the annual average rise above 1,000."...
..."Environmental impact
Gravity ensures that everything that goes up will eventually come back down - but the bath is currently being filled faster than the plug hole and the overflow pipe can empty it.
Some material from the A-Sat tests will come down to Earth, out of harm's way, but a significant proportion will head off to high altitudes where they will remain a hazard for years to come.
Humans and nature are also conspiring in unexpected ways to make the situation worse. The extra CO2 pumped into the atmosphere down the years has cooled some of its highest reaches - the thermosphere.
This - combined with low levels of solar activity - have shrunk the atmosphere, limiting the amount of drag on orbital objects that ordinarily helps to pull debris from the sky. In other words, the junk is also staying up longer.
Leaving aside the growth in debris from collisions for a moment, the number of satellites being sent into space is also increasing rapidly.
Go back to the 2000s, and the average for the number of satellites launched each year would be about 100. In this decade, the proliferation of small satellite technologies will likely see the annual average rise above 1,000."...
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I often wondered if it hits the fan, and everything works on GPS and communicates with satellites, how much would still work in the end. I remember being dropped off in Germany with a terrain map and compass in the 70's and told to figure out where we were and to get here, and we failed so freaking bad. I can't imagine how it would go with most today.
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