kek@hoxna.UUCP ( K. E. Kepple) (08/20/85)
Orbital Trash
Speaking of junk in space, does anyone remember an experiment about 20 years
ago in which a bunch (few hundred pounds, maybe) of tiny wires about the size
of needles was launched? I think the purpose was to see if they could be used
for communication (bouncing radio signals off of 'em). Well, in a short time,
they became so dispersed that they not only were useless for the original
experiment but also made the entire region of their orbit uninhabitable for
satellites. I remember this episode causing a lot of debate about trashing up
the satellite orbits. Somebody out there gotta remember what this was all
about.
Ken Kepple
hoxna!kek datakit: ho/bedrock/fred!kek
AT&T-Bell Labs - Holmdel NJ 07733 201-949-6525 Cornet 8-233-6525
...!{hocda, ihnp4, floyd!vax135!ariel!houti!hogpc}!houxm!hoxna!kekkarn@petrus.UUCP (Phil R. Karn) (08/22/85)
The project of which you speak was called "Project West Ford". As you say it involved the dispersal of thousands of tiny wire dipoles in a circular polar orbit. There was one launch but the dispenser mechanism didn't work right and many of the dipoles came out in large chunks. In any event the wire size and orbit was chosen such that solar radiation pressure and atmospheric drag would cause the wires to decay within a year or so, and I believe this was the case. I am much more concerned about the orbital debris already created by the Soviet anti-satellite tests. I have not yet heard any details on the orbits planned for the American ASAT tests, but it would be entirely in character if Reagan doesn't give a damn about polluting long-lived orbits with debris either. Sooner or later, with so much crap up there, there will be a collision with a military reconnaissance satellite and depending on the world situation there could very well be suspicion that the failure was due to deliberate activity by the other side. Such is the "security" that space weapons will buy us. Phil