16-10-2020, 07:05 PM
11
Re: Pieces of orbiting space junk set for very close pass
Originally Posted by Silver Tabby
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Not content with littering own planet - we have to litter the sky as well!
16-10-2020, 09:44 PM
12
Re: Pieces of orbiting space junk set for very close pass
Originally Posted by Omah
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Indeed ..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris
The animation depicts the distribution and movement of man-made objects orbiting Earth.
NASA Orbital Debris Program Office at JSC
If the space junk was as large as shown in the animation, each piece would weigh over 200,000 tons and be as big as Cuba. The animation is so far out of perspective it's a joke!
16-10-2020, 09:48 PM
13
Re: Pieces of orbiting space junk set for very close pass
Originally Posted by bakerman
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The video of orbiting space junk is terribly misleading. Each dot is way, way larger than they are in reality. The scale is out of all proportion. It makes it seem that any space craft orbiting the earth is bound to hit or be hit by some of that junk. In reality, the manned 'Skylab', which goes whizzing around the earth at 18,000 mph, has not encountered any of that junk. Nor can any astronauts on 'Skylab' see any of that junk.
17-10-2020, 12:13 AM
15
Re: Pieces of orbiting space junk set for very close pass
Originally Posted by OldGreyFox
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What a load of old bollox!If the space junk was as large as shown in the animation, each piece would weigh over 200,000 tons and be as big as Cuba. The animation is so far out of perspective it's a joke!
Originally Posted by bakerman
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Indeed. For the proportions to be correct, the animated Earth, in that video, would have to be 50 miles across.
Here is another "depiction" - The Pillars of Creation
17-10-2020, 10:29 AM
18
Re: Pieces of orbiting space junk set for very close pass
The surface of the earth is 196.9 million square miles.....Space begins at approximately 62 miles high.....
Satellites (and space junk) orbit at between 300 - 600 miles for commercial and communication satellites, and between 600 - 1200 miles for military use....
Therefore if we extrapolate by 100 (which would be very conservative) we arrive at 19,690,000,000 square miles....
If we divide that by the number of items classed as space junk (128 million)
We find that each single piece of space junk has approximately 153.828 square miles to fly around in.
Considering some pieces of space junk are less than 10 centimetres in diameter, I would suggest that you could spend a lifetime zooming around in space and never encountering one piece of space junk....
Lets get things in proportion shall we.....
With all due respect to Omah, this is no reflection on you, and I appreciate you bringing this to our attention.
It just goes to show, by the reaction of some posters, just how much information like this can be so misleading.
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