1.7 km wide? Hmmm, that would definitely make an excellent target. Or, like the school bus size satellite that’s coming down in a couple days, if in low Earth orbit would eventually crash to Earth. Then you’d have to launch another one.
Interesting, but I'm required to subscribe to unlock the article in your link.
EDIT: I found when I googled instead I found the link worked for me, at least for the first time: https://www.ft.com/content/96d7add4-7e91-44c1-90c7-8c905aa74a66
"In his short story 'Reason', published in 1941, science fiction writer Isaac Asimov described a universe in which humans harvest solar power in space to sustain life on earth."
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Here's a good link to testing Asimov's idea: https://cacm.acm.org/news/247166-testing-asimovs-idea-for-power-from-space/fulltext
In Asimov's short story 'Reason', "an argumentative sentient robot (with a bit of a god complex) runs a solar energy collection station in deep space and must ensure a colossal "beam director" steers high-energy rays with great precision to receivers on Earth and Mars, so as not to cause "incandescent ruin" if their bad aim fries people and property on either side of the receiver."
In Asimov's short story 'Reason', "an argumentative sentient robot (with a bit of a god complex) runs a solar energy collection station in deep space and must ensure a colossal "beam director" steers high-energy rays with great precision to receivers on Earth and Mars, so as not to cause "incandescent ruin" if their bad aim fries people and property on either side of the receiver."
Just install reflectors on moon. We can get 90 % sun in the night. + we can adjust where to project the maximum light towards earth . + it will end religious apologists age old debate of moon landing were fake.
Solar power satellites were in the news as a possibility in the late 1970s. The main concern at the time was it would be vulnerable to a Soviet attack.
What about mirrors in space focusing sun light at some point on Earth ? Call this system Archimedes-Syracuse.
Solar panels is an ecologist scam.
They are made in China in terrible environmental conditions.
When all costs are considered and drawbacks, they are not à worthwhile investment.
They are made in China in terrible environmental conditions.
When all costs are considered and drawbacks, they are not à worthwhile investment.
Gravity is generated in the West, you just need to keep going West until you get a sense of deja vu, then accelerate some more.
Head’s up! Big honking satellite due to reenter as we speak.
https://apple.news/AS1JSPBRoRYC5faVuCeLymQ
https://apple.news/AS1JSPBRoRYC5faVuCeLymQ
According to the ESA, the annual risk of an individual human being injured by space debris is under 1 in 100 billion, which is:
- ~1.5 million times lower than the risk of being killed in an accident at home
- ~65,000 times lower than the risk of being struck by lightning
- ~three times lower than the risk of being struck by a meteorite
The ESA says that on average, an object of similar mass to the ERS-2 reenters the Earth's atmosphere every one to two weeks.
Sounds like they probably need to update the risk probabilities. There is a graphic somewhere in cyberspace of all the space junk in orbit. I used that graphic in slide orientation in presentation at auditorium at Lockheed Martin HQ on history of satellites, and that was 25 years ago.
Graphic of space junk:
The above image of space debris is computer generated and the dots are not to scale. In actual photographs of the Earth we don't actually see an orbital landfill circling our planet.
This is to do with perspective - the things that humans build are tiny compared to the vastness of our planet.
Satellites range in size from only 4" each side (CubeSats) to ones that can be over 100 ft long (communication satellites). However, even 100 ft is tiny when you consider that the Earth is 7,918 miles across.
But granted, space junk is a highly visible problem to people involved in spaceflight.
The above image of space debris is computer generated and the dots are not to scale. In actual photographs of the Earth we don't actually see an orbital landfill circling our planet.
This is to do with perspective - the things that humans build are tiny compared to the vastness of our planet.
Satellites range in size from only 4" each side (CubeSats) to ones that can be over 100 ft long (communication satellites). However, even 100 ft is tiny when you consider that the Earth is 7,918 miles across.
But granted, space junk is a highly visible problem to people involved in spaceflight.
Rocket launches sometimes have a one minute hold added shortly before launch, to avoid the chance of hitting a satellite in orbit or some known piece of space junk. This company appears to be the go-to source of such info: https://leolabs.space/
If you look in the sky with binoculars (because must are too small and too dim to see with the naked eye) shortly after dusk or shortly before dawn, you can see "stars" that slowly move in relation to the background. These are man-made satellites in low earth orbit, illuminated by the Sun.
If you look in the sky with binoculars (because must are too small and too dim to see with the naked eye) shortly after dusk or shortly before dawn, you can see "stars" that slowly move in relation to the background. These are man-made satellites in low earth orbit, illuminated by the Sun.
On favourable passes, the International Space Station (ISS) can appear as bright as the planet Venus.
Above, the ISS is captured in a 30-second exposure as it travels overhead at 5 miles per second.
There are tips on spotting satellites in this old space.com article: https://www.space.com/6870-spot-satellites.html
