harding%b56vxg.dnet@kodak.com (JON HARDING) (04/26/91)
I have read that there is a lot of stuff floating around up there. So... Do the shuttle pilots/ground staff have to steer around this junk? Is the junk spread out over such a wide area, (3D), that the probability of collision is negligible? If not, how do they avoid old junk or KH-12s? N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J | Jon Harding, N2KZJ email: harding%b56vxg.dnet@Kodak.COM | | * I don't represent KODAK by word or deed. * | N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J N 2 K Z J
henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) (04/26/91)
In article <1880@eastman.UUCP> harding%b56vxg.dnet@kodak.com writes: >I have read that there is a lot of stuff floating around up there. >So... Do the shuttle pilots/ground staff have to steer around this junk? Some effort is made to plan shuttle orbits to avoid known debris, and to monitor the situation during flight and recommend small orbit changes if necessary. There is a growing problem with debris that is too small to track easily. -- And the bean-counter replied, | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology "beans are more important". | henry@zoo.toronto.edu utzoo!henry
dbm@icarus.jsc.nasa.gov (Brad Mears) (04/27/91)
In article <1880@eastman.UUCP>, harding%b56vxg.dnet@kodak.com (JON HARDING) writes: |> I have read that there is a lot of stuff floating around up there. |> So... Do the shuttle pilots/ground staff have to steer around this junk? |> Is the junk spread out over such a wide area, (3D), that the probability |> of collision is negligible? If not, how do they avoid old junk or KH-12s? Correct, there is a LOT of junk in LEO. NORAD tracks several thousand (?) items as small as a baseball. These are allowed for in flight designs. Unfortunately, the zillions of items which are too small to track pose a serious problem. In fact, the shuttle has been struck more than once by small pieces of debris. One of them even put a small crater in a cockpit window. That piece was apparently 1 or 2 millimeters across. If they hit one the size of a marble, it will be a serious problem. -- Brad Mears dbm@icarus.jsc.nasa.gov ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Opinions are expressly forbidden. | "It is better to die on your feet I speak for myself and no other. | than live on your knees" | - Dolores Ibarruri ----------------------------------------------------------------------------