11-14-2012, 08:15 PM
cbelt3 wrote:
West Ford was small potatoes compared to the accidental Iridium collision, and then the stupid Chinese just HAD to wave their weenies and blow up a satellite IN ORBIT (rather than during re-entry).
There *are* a large number of DARPA class projects looking into the issue, but as Paul F so aptly paraphrased Douglas Adams, Space is big. It's all about the volume.
Imagine if your entire living room was filled with carpet and kittens in all three dimensions and you had to vacuum up the cat hairs. Individually. Using a process that would require you to aim the vacuum from your office across town.
It's worse than that...
Imagine the average football stadium was filled with 1000 kittens...
Now try to capture them all with a remote controlled helicopter from your office across town. The kittens get to change course at will, naturally...
And don't even get me started on that Chinese ASAT "test"... :villagers:
At least OUR Aegis-based ASAT "test" was aimed at a satellite that was deorbiting anyway, and none of the pieces that resulted in the kill survived more than a few days before reentering.
The Iridium collision was dang unfortunate... In some ways forgiveable, in some ways not.