On Feb 11, 9:53*pm, Benj wrote:
On Feb 11, 10:25 pm, BradGuth wrote:

This could cascade, and if it does our future of reliable satellite
placements is at risk, not to mention complex consequences for manned
missions.

Of course it could, but does NASA care? *"acceptable risk" they said
no doubt thinking that they can't be unlucky all the time...

But hey, spewing space with junk is a normal human thing to do. Ever
see the trash around a shack in West Virginia? Same thing here. Hey,
if nobody likes it then let THEM clean up the mess. As for us, we are
jes gonna sit in this here rocker on the front porch of our space
station!

This should start happening on a fairly regular basis, not to mention
whatever natural kinds of incoming debris is causing damage.

Next step will have to be a ten fold increase in radar tracking, plus
having to create a super-sized shuttle for a major clean up effort,
and of course at public expense that should run less than a few
trillion per decade. I bet William Mook could easily do this with
both hands tied behind his Rothschild back.

Debris Spews Into Space in Collision of Satellites
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/sc...ellite.html?hp
A wussy little Iridium and nearly a tonne of something Russian just
made one hell of a mess that’s only going to get worse before getting
better for ISS and any number of other satellites.

Iridium 33 (560 kg) + Cosmos 2251 (900 kg) = I told you so.

~ BG