Mark HurstNov 25, 2024

Elon Musk's space junk is a threat to us all. Starlink satellites will pollute the atmosphere, land in your backyard, and - a fresh new nightmare - could hit airliners at 35,000 feet.

My post explains:
https://buttondown.com/creativegood/archive/musks-space-junk-is-a-threat-to-us-all/

Thanks to @sundogplanets for raising the alarm. (Re-upping to get the proper thumbnail on the post.)

Musk's space junk is a threat to us all

Pieces of space junk are falling to earth on a regular basis. On Techtonic this week I spoke with astronomer Samantha Lawler, who has been raising the alarm...

Creative Good
Show threadBeggar MidasNov 25, 2024
@markhurst @sundogplanets You think that's bad. How you think some of those things will look to anyone on high alert for any ICBMs making re-entry?
Show threadZ̈oé
@Beggarmidas @markhurst @sundogplanets very different; ICBMs are *ballistic*, satellites are orbital
Nov 26, 2024 at 7:32amWeb
Show threadBeggar MidasNov 26, 2024
@uint8_t @markhurst @sundogplanets True. But re-entry can look very similar depending on how modern someone's radar instillations are. I was specifically referencing NK/DPRK. It was a known issue during the cold war.
Show threadBeggar MidasNov 26, 2024
@uint8_t @markhurst @sundogplanets Heck, there was an incident back in 1996 when a Norwegian rocket launch & re-entry almost triggered Russia into a nuclear response. So this isn't a hypothetical circumstance. There's been other incidents in the past. This isn't some crank proposition. So recalculate after reviewing known incidents. Especially with the way starlink uses multiple units those could easily be mistaken for a pre-emptive salvo by anyone feeling especially nervous & paranoid.