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FoxtrotDeltaTango@sh.itjust.works to Technology@lemmy.worldEnglish · 10 hours ago

SpaceX satellites half the size of pickup trucks are falling from the sky

thenarwhal.ca

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SpaceX satellites half the size of pickup trucks are falling from the sky

thenarwhal.ca

FoxtrotDeltaTango@sh.itjust.works to Technology@lemmy.worldEnglish · 10 hours ago
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SpaceX satellites half the size of pickup trucks are falling from the sky | The Narwhal
thenarwhal.ca
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As space junk accumulates, astronomer Sam Lawler explains why we should be concerned about the rapid proliferation of private satellites in low orbit

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/58949709

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  • elucubra@sopuli.xyz
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    49 minutes ago

    Is the measure in Imperial pick ups,

    or metric pick ups?

    • Multiplexer@discuss.tchncs.de
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      42 minutes ago

      Cochem mentioned! 😍

  • finalarbiter@piefed.social
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    4 hours ago

    How does half a pickup truck compare to a large boulder the size of a small boulder?

  • j_elgato@leminal.space
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    8 hours ago

    Oh thank God… We almost had to use the metric system there didn’t we?

    • betterdeadthanreddit@lemmy.world
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      7 hours ago

      We were within a hair’s breadth of that awful fate.

      • Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org
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        4 hours ago

        Are all imperial hair bigger, or only Texas ones?

      • Kevin@programming.dev
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        4 hours ago

        within a hair’s breadth

        squints eyes

  • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works
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    6 hours ago

    Complaining about Kressler Syndrome

    Complaining about Starlink

    Pick one, asshole. As shitty as Musk is, Starlink is in too low of an orbit to cause Kressler Syndrome

  • Visstix@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    Half the size of a pickup truck? So like, a normal car?

    • Ludicrous0251@piefed.zip
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      9 hours ago

      More like 1/3 the size of a zambonie. Or 11/3 the size of two penguins on a foosball table.

      • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
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        41 minutes ago

        How many dachshunds is that?

      • Warl0k3@lemmy.world
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        9 hours ago

        Whats that in Rhode Islands? And how about mass, can I get that measured in bigmacs?

        • mushroommunk@lemmy.today
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          8 hours ago

          129 / 4.307213e+10 = 2.9949761 x 10^-9

          That’s in sq ft. Rounded. Length x width of a pickup truck divided by surface area of Rhode Island as reported on Wikipedia

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 @pawb.social
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    7 hours ago

    Donnie Darko but it’s Musk’s space junk instead of a jet engine.

  • RamRabbit@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    Yep, they are in Low Earth Orbit. A place that has a very, very small amount of air, so the satellites experience drag, lose speed, eventually the propellant tanks run dry, and they burn up in the atmosphere. The ISS experiences the same thing, which is why its altitude slowly falls, then you see a sharp increase as they push to a slightly higher orbit.

    At the altitude the SpaceX satellites are at, they only passively stay up for a few years. With the onboard propulsion giving them each another few years.

  • Hayduke@lemmy.world
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    7 hours ago

    There could be cubes the size of gorillas.

  • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
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    9 hours ago

    Half the size of a pickup truck… a Mazda compact, or a jacked up GMC Hemi half ton?

    Even just saying Ford F150 gives a lot of leeway.

    • xylol@leminal.space
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      5 hours ago

      OK what about a ford ranger then

  • tidderuuf@lemmy.world
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    10 hours ago

    Please let one land on my house so I can sue SpaceX and retire early.

    • SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works
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      8 hours ago

      One fell in a farmer’s field in Saskatchewan. Dude got a hassle, some publicity, and a nominal fee of a grand or something.

      • Iconoclast@feddit.uk
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        3 hours ago

        It wasn’t from a starlink satellite though.

        which the U.S. aerospace company SpaceX later admitted was part of a cargo trunk for its Crew Dragon spacecraft.

        Source

        • SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works
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          3 hours ago

          Cool thanks!

  • halcyoncmdr@piefed.social
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    6 hours ago

    Yeah that’s what happens to absolutely everything in Low Earth Orbit in just a few years. Well, unless you keep pushing them back up like we do to the International Space Station.

    These satellites are doing exactly what they’re intended to do. These are actually pretty small satellites overall, there are a lot up there quite a bit larger that deorbit and burn up on re-entry just fine as well.

    That’s part of the reason things are sent to LEO specifically, because their orbits naturally degrade and they naturally deorbit themselves without needing any assistance or fuel. It also means if a satellite in LEO fails quicker than planned, is put in an incorrect orbit due to a launch issue, or just failed prematurely, it will fail-safe and deorbit without any assistance.

  • rnercle@sh.itjust.works
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    7 hours ago

    return to sender

    preferably on his head

    • sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz
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      4 hours ago

      That would be so hilarious. People would be drinking beer and laughing at the story 100 years later.

  • nightlily@leminal.space
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    10 hours ago

    How many bananas is that?

    • badhops@sh.itjust.works
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      7 hours ago

      always $ in the banana stand

    • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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      9 hours ago

      DDG/Lucille Bluth says about 40,000-50,000 bananas.

      • W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        9 hours ago

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