Questions tagged [debris]
Questions about debris in space, often in Earth orbit. Usually referring to nonoperational man-made satellites or parts of satellites.
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Understanding this LeoLabs plot of (the most recent) Long March upper stage breakup debris field
We’re actively monitoring and analyzing the breakup event in #LEO involving a Chinese rocket body, CZ-6A. Our radar data indicates this event occurred on 6 August at ~20:10 UTC at ~810 km.
It resulted ...
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Would it be possible to create a relatively permanent Kessler syndrome event in interplanetary space between Earth and Venus?
A lot of interplanetary space infrastructure would be focused around Lagrange points, where collision energies would be very low. The threat in this case would come from everything traveling between ...
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What was the relative velocity of Cosmos 2221 and TIMED?
According to Space.com, on the 28th of February at 06:34 UTC, the dead Russian spy satellite Cosmos 2221 and the NASA spacecraft TIMED, which are both orbiting at an altitude of about 608 kilometres, ...
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Will the next deorbiting reactor be on a "safe disposal" trajectory, or re-enter as an uncontrolled derelict?
Kosmos 954 was a reconnaissance satellite launched by the Soviet Union
in 1977, powered by a nuclear reactor containing 50Kg of highly
enriched uranium-235
Soviet officials … lost control over the ...
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Why not use containers to clean up small space debris?
Small space debris is a serious problem. I think that if a large container orbits full of space debris and sweeps up small pieces of space debris that fit into the container, the space debris can be ...
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Has propulsion utilizing solar sail / drag effects of solar panels achieved orbital rendezvous? If yes, is there any utility for clearing space junk?
It has been proposed to use solar panels as solar sails and drag control by alternately feathering panels during different phases of orbit. It is claimed this can alter light pressure and drag enough ...
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How beaten up would Voyager 1 be in 40,000 years?
How much damage would there be, both physically and to the computers, memory etc, upon arrival to Gliese 445 in 40k years by radiation and interstellar debris?
user52823
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How to access satellite & debris data categorised by intended purpose?
I'm working on an art project which requires satellite data (active, inactive, as well as debris), so I was on Space Track. Does the NORAD ID or some other field help retrieve information about the ...
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Does earth orbiting debris that threatens the space station have a particular direction bias?
I'm starting to investigate the danger of orbital debris on the ISS (international space station). One could assume that due to the orbital velocity vector, that any debris that the ISS encounter, ...
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How much of the small (1 mm - 10 cm) LEO debris are electrically charged?
Upon investigation of Soliton based LEO debris detection, most research require that the debris is electrically charged. So I would like to know what is causing the debris to be charged and how much ...
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How much of what we see as “satellites” is space junk?
Ground observers using naked eyes see several LEO objects per minute under good observing conditions, and many times more with binoculars. These are usually referred to as “satellites”. Many are, ...
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Why Isn't the ISS exclusion zone spherical?
According to a video by Real Engineering the ISS has a 50x50x0.75 km exclusion zone.
Why Isn't it spherical and why is the "vertical" axis so much smaller?
Screenshot from Don’t Drop your ...
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Developing a ROS-based Space Cleaning Robot
I am currently developing a space debris cleaning robot based on ROS (Robot Operating System) and I am facing challenges in finding suitable simulation software to create a realistic physical ...
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How dangerous is tossing equipment off the ISS?
On 2023 June 22, during an ISS spacewalk, Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin "tossed overboard" three no longer needed devices, "off the back of the space station in a direction that ...
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Is the ESA's DELTA Stochastic?
I'm reading this paper describing the capabilities of the ESA's DELTA space debris forecast model.
It's clear that this model uses a statistical, flux-based model derived from the MASTER debris ...
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Who offers Conjunction Data Messages (CDM)
I know space-track and LeoLabs offers Conjunction Data Messages. Are there other commercial or open-source offerings? How accurate are CDMs if you only used TLEs which do not include covariance.
user30059
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Data on satellites and/or space junk
I am hoping to develop a program capable of predicting when a satellite will fly through the path of a telescope observation. The aim is to make it possible to block or mitigate the light from the ...
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Have any bits of a space mission ever collided with a planet or large moon (not Earth) that was not a target of the mission?
For example, a mission to Mars for which some bit of hardware ended up entering Venus's atmosphere.
Has this ever happened, or at least are there projections that it may happen?
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Do launching states need to seek permission for jettisoning rocket stages over waters not counted as international waters?
Rocket debris such as boosters and payload fairings are often discarded over bodies of water. If the debris is set to be discarded over waters outside the launching state's territory, do they need to ...
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1 kiloton nuclear device to clear up debris and dust to expose the iron-nickel core for open-pit mining (on M-Type asteroids)?
My understanding is that initial acceleration from the blast and following solar wind will clear the area around the asteroid for spacecraft navigation (in reasonable time). A 2-3 kilometer M-type ...
anon
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SSA Sensors in Space - game changer?
I'm curious about the space-based sensor networks that seem to be an upcoming means of tracking Resident Space Objects (RSO). https://spacenews.com/getting-ssa-off-the-ground/
I'd like to know more ...
user30059
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Equivalents to DISCOS from other agencies
I'm working on a research paper where the primary data source is going to be the DISCOSweb API.
This API/Dataset provides a wealth of information on manmade object in orbit (debris, payloads, spent ...
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The Space Debris Problem: Can a shuttle-style spaceplane even make a dent in it? [closed]
I'm a bit of a shuttle geek. Ask me what my favorite spaceplane is, I'll say the space shuttle! (Specifically, Discovery, since it launched my favorite telescope, Hubble!) While the shuttles ...
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What is the origin of the ring of debris in inclined GSO orbits? [duplicate]
Both these illustrations of space debris show a ring shaped cloud of debris at GSO altitude, but with an inclination of about 15*. What is the source of these objects? The graveyard orbit for GSO ...
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What is the optimum space junk to target for deorbiting?
The danger posed by space debris depends on the debris' mass, ballistic coefficient and orbit.
For a given mass of debris, a single large mass (like an intact dead satellite) poses a much smaller risk ...
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What is the fuel cost of deorbiting a kilo of space junk?
Removing debris from LEO requires a significant delta-V which most schemes propose to accomplish via rocket propulsion.
Source
The ratio of launch fuel to payload mass is often given as 9:1 for LOE.
...
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Can space debris capture be modeled on surgical grapple baskets?
Can space debris capture be modeled on surgical grapple baskets?
Most plans for de-orbiting space debris involve orbital rendezvous and grappling the debris. Grappling an uncooperative, spinning, ...
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Is it possible to charge space debris with an electrospray thruster?
I have been tasked with finding a way to charge conductive space debris via a cubesat. I have been heavily considering electrospray/colloid thrusters to produce this charge however I am having some ...
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How do we ensure that during reentry or descent of spent stages, it doesnt hit any aircraft or incoming rocket?
When a rocket is launched, stages are separated at different intervals and altitude. The lower stages usually descend immediately while upper stages and orbital platforms usually last in space a bit ...
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How orbital debris' density affects damage, everything else being equal?
If considering one gram of steel and one gram of foam, which one is the biggest threat and would cause most or least damage to the orbital structure it hits?
Radii of these debris is the only thing ...
user19132
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How Comprehensive is DISCOSweb?
The DISCOSweb API seems to contain a list of all launches as well as significant amounts of tracked debris.
I'm just wondering how conclusive I can consider this dataset to be? Does it contain all ...
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What is this squiggly moving line in the recent SpaceX SARah-1 Mission?
I watched the livestream of the launch of the SpaceX SARah-1 Mission.
Shortly after the boostback burn there is this squiggly white line that moves away from the first stage, starting at T+03:54. It ...
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Is there any orbital launcher capable of removing the second stage from orbit after inserting the payload satellite into LEO?
The Space Shuttle was able to place a satellite into orbit and to return to Earth.
Is there any second stage that may deliver the payload satellite into LEO and do a deorbit burn after that using its ...
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Sourced RSO catalogs and CDMs
I often go to space-track.org and download the latest space catalog on Resident Space Objects (RSO) and also like to look at the Conjunction Data Messages to check out the probabilities. what other ...
user30059
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What happens to the parts of rockets after they burn up?
For some first stages and second stages, and some failed launches, their fate is to burn up in the Earth atmosphere. Once the stage has broken into thousands of smaller parts, aerodynamics changes. ...
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Does Privateer's tracking software Crow's Nest actually offer users something better than the previous state of the art?
CNN's Steve Wozniak's new venture takes aim at space junk discusses a project with Wozniak, Alex Fielding and Moriba Jah:
But the money, according to Wozniak's co-founder in this new venture, couldn'...
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Is it true that 18SPCS is "not really concerned with tracking deep-space debris like" the Chang’e 5-T1 rocket body that hit the Moon?
The Verge's After mistaken identity and confusion, a piece of space junk slams into the Moon goes through the identification saga of the thing that hit the Moon March 4 and includes the following:
...
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Is the impact of Chang’e 5-T1 rocket stage on the Moon's far side on March 4th likely to launch any debris into Moon or Earth orbit?
It is predicted that the Chang’e 5-T1 rocket stage will impact the Moon's far side on March 4th. The stage apparently weighs about 4 tonnes and will impact at 2.5 km/s at a shallow angle.
There's ...
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Why not add tracking features to upper stages? Has something like this ever been proposed?
The identity of the object that will hit the Moon in early March is still uncertain. Some of the story is in Why did we think that the object was gonna hit the Moon March 4th 2022? Who's been ...
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Project Pluto asks: "Should high-flying space junk be better tracked? Perhaps by an 'official' agency of some sort?" What would it take to implement?
The identity of the object that will hit the Moon in early March is still uncertain. Some of the story is in Why did we think that the object was gonna hit the Moon March 4th 2022? Who's been ...
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How much will global warming increase the density of debris in LEO? What are predictions currently saying?
After about 08:00 in Scott Manley's hot off the press new release SpaceX Loses 40 Satellites To Solar Storm linked below he drifts away from the solar activity-...
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BBC: "A rocket launched by Elon Musk's space exploration company is on course to crash into the Moon and explode." Will it really explode?
The line following the title of BBC's Elon Musk SpaceX rocket on collision course with moon reads:
A rocket launched by Elon Musk's space exploration company is on course to crash into the Moon and ...
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Why did we think that the object was gonna hit the Moon March 4th 2022? Who's been tracking and predicting it so closely?
The Guardian's 'Out-of-control' Chinese rocket falling to Earth... Oops, I mean Out-of-control SpaceX rocket on collision course with moon says that Bill Gray's Project Pluto/DSCOVR says that the 2015 ...
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Did any Columbia debris continue orbiting Earth?
For reentry the Space Shuttles lowered their perigee to 28 nautical miles (52 km) above sea level. Shuttle Columbia disintegrated around 60 km altitude, and the first debris fell off as high as 70.5 ...
user46063
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Does James Webb have any protection against meteoroids/space debris?
Any satellite in space is exposed to meteoroids and space debris, and this can cause problems during the operation of a spacecraft.
Does JWST have any protection against these problems on its sun ...
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Where to get raw data for ESA graphs
The European Space Agency maintains the MASTER space debris model and has multiple papers published on the topic.
There is a graph that I have seen in a few papers and on a few websites that I would ...
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How can we get rid of space debris? [closed]
It's known that space debris can do harm to satellites. I have 2 questions:
How do satellites avoid them?
Are there any ways to get rid of it?
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Shouldn't space junk fall back to Earth on its own? How long will take for a ~1 cm piece of junk in LEO to fall back to Earth on its own for example?
I'm a noob in this subject and know little about space exploration, but I wonder about this every time I read the news:
Wouldn't drag make all space junk fall back to Earth after some time?
I'm ...
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How do kick motors distance themselves from their payload after their burn, if at all?
I saw Space News' An object is now orbiting alongside China’s Shijian-21 debris mitigation satellite
recently about a "new object" orbiting near a relatively newly launched satellite. The ...
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Is pre-deorbit explosive disassembly of the ISS utilising propellant a useful way to reduce impact debris?
The ISS could be disassembled post retro burn to provide smaller pieces for burn-up. If the hull space were filled with a stoichiometric mix of propellant from the deorbiting vessel post-burn, it ...
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