5
$\begingroup$

The question What kinds of things have been tossed out of the ISS? has a broken YouTube link. This is why it's good to include at least the name of the video in your post (which I didn't back in 2016). I got it from the Science20 post Why A Ball Thrown To Earth From Orbit "Boomerangs". Can Astronauts Hit Earth With A Ball, Arrow Or Bullet? where the link is also broken. The (missing) video is introduced as:

Here is a steel ball thrown out of the ISS to help test how well ground stations can track orbital debris

Any ideas what steel ball this could be, or how I might go about tracking another video of the event down?

$\endgroup$
3
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ The only "ball" I know that was deployed from the ISS, you asked about here space.stackexchange.com/q/16944/6944 But it wasn't a radar target as such. I see poor Butch in that post too; now he's baaaaack. $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 26 at 1:54
  • $\begingroup$ @OrganicMarble Oh! I see what you mean. fyi I've just asked What ever happened to (that NASA link about) SpinSat? $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Aug 26 at 6:55
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Scott Manley did a similar video about whether an astronaut could throw something fast enough to de-orbit it. If such an experiment were done, he would have likely mentioned it in that video. (I don't have a link handy) $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 26 at 16:05

1 Answer 1

7
$\begingroup$

The ODERACS (Orbital DEbris RAdar Calibration Spheres):

Five-centimeter balls were detected by the Don-2N radar with an experimental processing program with incoherent accumulation of about a dozen signals at a target height of 352 km and at a distance of 500-800 km (tracking up to 900-1500 km).

$\endgroup$
6
  • $\begingroup$ The ODERACS-2 were released from the Shuttle Orbiter on STS-63, not from ISS. $\endgroup$
    – costrom
    Commented Nov 26, 2019 at 23:13
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Downvoted until a reference is provided showing that these were launched from the ISS. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 27, 2019 at 3:56
  • $\begingroup$ @OrganicMarble STS-60 in 1994. $\endgroup$
    – A. Rumlin
    Commented Nov 27, 2019 at 16:02
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I'll un-accept the answer at least temporarily since I'm asking for something thrown from the ISS, but I wonder if the author of the article just got it wrong and is actually talking about these and just got mixed up and said "ISS" by accident. $\endgroup$
    – uhoh
    Commented Nov 24, 2020 at 13:20
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ @uhoh The ODERACS targets were not tossed out by hand from the shuttle on STS-63. They were released from a Getaway Special canister (GAS Can) mounted on a carrier in the payload bay. i.imgur.com/YEr0QBG.png They were actually 3 spheres and 3 dipoles. ODERACS 1 was on STS-60 and released 6 spheres, also from a GAS can. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 24, 2020 at 14:46

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.